Mischief and Healing
by zantha19
Summary: Eir is the goddess of healing a childhood friend of the Princes of Asgard, the warriors three and Sif. See how they all grow to become the people we know them to be and how the events of the movies affected her and what comes after. Because Loki always has a bigger plan than any can see.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you so much for reading. I really hope that you will like it. I have written fanfic's before but not for this fandom or with an oc. So I really hope it turns out ok. I feel I should explain that in the Norse mythology Eir is the goddess of healing and is also named as one of the Valkyrie. In this story she will be the same age as Loki and Thor, a little younger than Loki. In this chapter they are around 12. Think Kid Loki or a little younger.**

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Small pale hands finished twisting long dark hair into a thick braid. Then tied it in place before letting it follow over her right shoulder, almost matching the darkness of the navy blue dress she wore. With a small smile and smaller nod, now satisfied with the effect after three previous tries Eir sat up and moved away from the small vanity table in her bedroom. Today was the young Aesir's first day of court lessons. She would be taught history and other important things that she should know about Asgard and the nine realms. While she had already met most of the small group of children that would be in the class with her. Five and herself her father had told her. Children of other high ranting court members, military men, like her father and one council member's daughter. Over the years as she grew up. She didn't really care about seeing more of them. It was the thought of all that she was about to be taught that excited her.

With a spring in her step she quickly ran from her room and along the corridor, down the stairs. She was just about to reach out to open the main door, when she heard her name being called. With a small affectionate sigh she lowered her hand and turned round.

"Father."

Her tone was not one of impatience or irritation. Instead it was one like a parent scolding their child. The tall rather large figure of her father walked towards her out of the shadows of the dim light. If she was unfamiliar with him this would be a very threatening sight. The proud warrior walked over to his daughter and knelt down in-front of her. Even for her young age she was rather small. His large rough hand rested on her shoulder. His fingers stroking her braided hair. A few strands of hair had already come lose. Her mother would have been able to fix it.

"I will be fine."

"I do not doubt it. It is myself that I am worried for." She smiled warmly at him. Her dark eyes meeting his. "I don't know what I will do without you around to keep the house in order."

"I will be gone a few hours a few days a week."

He nodded, knowing she was right. He also knew what her mother had told him. This was the first step that she would take away from him to a life of her own making. While every parent wished this for their child, to find their own place in the world it did not stop them doing so from hurting so much.

"You are special….."

"To you."

"I admit I am biased. It does not change the fact that you are beautiful and smart. Just like your mother."

She knew he was tying raise her confidence about being around the other children. Sigyn the beautiful blond, blue eyes daughter of a court member and Lorelei the exotic red haired, younger sister of Amora would both be in her class. Being of mixed nationality and having eyes as dark as her hair, he knew she worried about how she fitted into the world they lived in.

"Go and make us proud." He kissed her on her forehead, then stood up allowing her to finally leave.

She was not the strongest and she knew that she never would be, but she did have speed. She ran through the upper ring of Asgard from her home near the military barracks and training grounds to the palace with great speed and quick reactions to avoid running in to anyone. When she reached the palace she had to stop to have a guard tell her were to go. Walking through the palace she almost walked into the back of at least two other guards as she walked with her head tilted upwards at the high ceilings. They had the most spectacular designs. She had been in the palace a number of times, due to her father being a captain in the army, but she had never been able to really take in the detail of the palace before.

The third time she was pulled from her day dreaming she was knocked into from behind by a sudden force. Once she had regained her balance and looked around to see what been the case of her sudden attack. She saw nothing, then a sound that could only be described as a laugh drew her attention to her right. Where she saw the back of a small dark figure running around the corner of the corridor. Her instinct was to follow and she who or what the figure was. Before she could act on this instinct a hand came sharply down on her shoulder.

"It is to the left my lady." She smiled a forced smile to the guard. "It is very easy to get lost. You will get used to it." He offered in a softer tone. Her smile broadened a little as she followed her advice and carried on the way she was meant to go.

The class room was actually a set of three rows of tables and chairs facing out towards a small court yard at the heart of the palace. It was not actually a room at all. At least not in the warm weather. It did have a roof that was held up by four pillars, but no walls on three sides. In the colder weather mechanical walls emerged from the ground to make it a more traditional room. Eir was the last to enter the so called room. All seats in the front row were gone. On one of the far sides she saw the back of a shining blond head and red on the other. Moving forward she took a seat in the back row. There was still space in the middle row, but she didn't feel like sitting there.

For a reason she didn't fully understand she felt the strong need to distance herself from the other children in the room. She had just sat down when she heard the sound of someone rushing towards the door. She turned round to see who it could be. She was sure their teacher would not be rushing. The person stopped running just as they reached the door. As she was the closest she realised that she had been the only person to hear them running. As only now that they appeared in the doorway did the rest of the class turn to look at them. As they did a collective gasp and intake of breath was heard.

As she saw him first Eir was the only one that did not make an audible sound at the entrance of the second Prince of Asgard. Her eyes instead narrowed as she watched him enter the room, realising that he had been the one that had knocked into her earlier. Feeling a little brave she wanted to glare at him, but he did not meet her eyes. Instead he calmly walked over to the nearest seat and table. Which happened to be two seats down from her.

The second he sat down the rest of the class all got up from theirs and moved to circle around him. At first he did not seem overly comfortable with the sudden and intense attention. After a quick beat he seemed to be in control and composed again. Eir tried to not listen to what he was saying but couldn't help herself being drawn in. It was the slight note of annoyance when he answered a question about his brother the Prince Thor that drew her in.

Daring to have a quick glance towards him, she allowed herself to really look at him for the first time. He was definitely not as handsome or sticking as his brother, but there was something about him. His eyes were so bright it looked like he could see through anything. His pale skin and jet black hair made them stand out all the more. It made her feel very exposed when he turned them on her. The corners of his mouth tilted into a smile for a second till he mee her dark eyes, then he turned away.

The teacher then entered the room and everyone once again took up their seats. From the next few hour the teacher an older women with lightening hair talked and talked. Without herself noticing Eir started to move forward a little till she was perched on the each of her chair. Much of what she was being told she had already heard of or read before, but every now and then she would be told something that she didn't know and that made it seem worthwhile.

So engrossed was she in the works of the current philosophers such as Plato that she almost didn't feel a small gust of wind blowing against her arm. Quickly glancing to her right she saw Loki holding his right hand out just under the table. His palm was facing upwards were a tiny tornado dance. She had never seem magic like that being used in such a way. The tornado had a green tinge to it, he was not controlling the air around them, he was creating it himself with his own magic. Her breath caught in her throat as he watched the magic air continue to dance around the pale palm of the Prince. Suddenly feeling eyes on her, sharp eyes she lifted her gaze up. He smiled at her, a real smile this time. He was clearly proud of his skill, as he should be she believed.

Turning quickly away from him, she lost her balance and slipped from her chair. Her eyes clenched shut waiting the pain of the impact she knew was coming. Then the worse pain of all eyes turning to her to see her laying of the floor in such an undignified way. None of that pain came however. She felt like a strong pair of arms had come up behind her and grabbed hold of her to stop her from falling. Knowing that was impossible she dared to open her eyes. Looking down she saw that she appeared to be sitting on thin air an inch below her seat. Quickly she pulled herself back into her seat.

A little reluctantly she looked to her right. It could only have been him. While she was very grateful she was not looking forward to him smiling smugly at her. When she looked his way he was looking in-front of him. Seemingly very interested in Plato. For a minute she thought that she may have mistaken it, that it was not him. His magic seemed to be distinguished by a green tint. She had not seen that. Still she was sure that it was him.

She had never thought much of either of the Prince's. She had had no reason too. As their teacher had said at the start of the lessen Loki had chosen to be here. She didn't understand that. From what she knew Prince Thor had had a private tutor. So had Loki for a year at least what made him want to be here. Maybe he wanted to be around other people his age. His brother was older and from what she knew spent most of his time training. That did not seem to be an interest he shared with his younger brother. In fact she knew little of the dark hair Prince. Her father had told her that her he had a natural talent for long ranged weapons, which he believed he was skilled in due to his sharp eyes. He had also said he was rather recklessness in close range combat that could get him killed if he did not grow in strength to pull it off. Looking at the skinny boy she doubted that would happen.

The lesson soon ended and everyone filed out. Two of other girls, whose names she could not bring to mind stopped her just as she was about to leave the room. One was a distant cousin she found out. Feeling her unease and slight nerves from the start of the lessen leave her she walked out of the palace with them. They were nice girls, but she quickly found that they were not all that interested in what they had just be taught. They it seemed where far more interested in the late addiction to their class. They firmly believed that he was there most likely at the urging of the All-Mother, so that he would better know the women that would most likely be his future wife. It was not hard to guess who they thought this would be. Sigyn had been the first to approach him when he entered the room. Never leaving his side. She even practical linked her arm through his as the left for the day. They also thought that Lorelie with her family talent for magic could give her a challenge. That was if she found any interest in it.

Once out of the palace they turned right and she left. Her father would have returned from the training grounds by now. He would be waiting for her. Most likely with a long list of questions for her. She wondered if he knew that Loki was going to be there. It was likely that he did. He trained the Princess's or at least he would until they came of age. If he had known he most likely hadn't told her as he knew it might make her feel more nervous. He knew her better than she knew herself it seemed, at least on this occasion. He had most likely known she would let her nerves get the better of her. Even when she had not felt the slightest bit nervous before she arrived there.

Not wanting to return home just let she took a right and doubled back a little to walk through the public park in-front of the palace. Once around the park should give her enough time to think of the best answers for the question she would surly ask her. For some reason felt that she should keep some of what had happened in her first lesson to herself.

The park was one of her favourite walks. On a day like today if you were lucky you to find a quiet place to sit you could be left alone in the warm sun for hours to just sit and read. The flowers had come into full bloom offering a number of strong floral fragrance to accompany her on her walk. Her mind started to drift back to Loki. She couldn't put her finger on it, but under his playfulness she was sure she could see pain, buried deep. What he had to be sorry for she did not know.

"Aren't you going to thank me."

At first she didn't know if she was hearing the voice in her head, or if there was really someone talking to her. Looking around she saw no one.

"Wrong direction."

Darting around and feeling a little annoyed she still saw nothing. With a sigh of going frustration the voice laughed a little before choosing the reveal themselves before Eir grew more annoyed. Something told him that he did not want to see her truly annoyed. Jumping down from the tree branch that he had been hiding on he landed just behind the young girl. Spinning round Eir came face to face with Loki.

"So."

"Am I really meant to thank you for nearly casing me to fall out of my chair."

"No." He smiled, a little too smugly she thought. "For catching you."

"I would not have needed catching of it was not for you."

He still smiled and now laughed a little. She was clearly smart and quick minded too. Two traits that he did not normally find in people. She also didn't seem to treat him like a Prince like the others in their class. His brother may like to be treated that way, fawned over all the time he did not. At least not for any little thing. He liked it to be for something that he had achieved. If he thought to much more about the reasons for this he knew it he would not like the answer that he found. Something to do with the need for validation form his father most likely. The whole reason he had been in the tree in the first place was to finally get away from Sigyn.

Pulling himself from his thoughts he met her eyes. The darkest eyes he thought he had ever seen. They seemed to be peering right through him. Like they could see the part of him that he had just pushed aside. He felt that way when he caught her eye in class. He had never had that feeling before. He knew for a fact that he could even keep secrets form his Mother. Like yes he had in-fact been the one that caused Thor to be unable to let go of his weapon during training last week. It was a talent that he was proud off, though he thought he never got the right respect for. For some reason however her seemingly able to see thought that did not bother him. It made him feel he had to be more honest, well a little, something he was not used to. It also made him feel he had to up his game.

"How did you do that."

Her face fell into a frown at his sudden change of subject. "Do what."

"When I saved you from embarrassment I felt magic other than my own." The confusion on her face forced him to explain a little more. "I have a theory, a very good one. That I am very sure is right. I just wanted to know if you knew."

"Knew what." She voice came out louder than she had intended it too. Her hands had also clenched together. While she was not completely sure she had a very unpleasant knowledge that she had also stomped her foot.

Laughing a little under his breath, the Prince grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the trunk of the tree he had jumped down from. With more force than was necessary and she thought he would have he pushed her to stand against the trunk. He then let her arm go and took a few steps backwards. She too took a step forward but he quickly told her to stay in place. He also promised she would not get hurt if he was right. She had asked what if he was wrong. He looked a little puzzled by this. It seemed he always thought himself to be right.

"First time for everything I suppose."

For some reason this gave her some comfort. That was till he suddenly in the blink of an eye pulled out a throwing knife from out of nowhere it seemed and sent it hurtling towards her. She didn't have time to let out a sound, the knife was traveling like a bolt of lightning. All she could do was lift her arms up to protect her face. Like in the classroom she waited for the feeling of pain, but it never came. Instead she heard a soft excited laugh from Loki and she opened her eyes and lowered her arms. Looking at the ground she saw the knife laying by her feet.

She looked up at Loki, her mouth about to open to ask want had happed. Before a word could leave her lips, he was by her side picking up his knife. "I knew I was right." He finally met her eyes and saw she still didn't know what had happened. "You don't know what you just did do you." She shook her head. "You put up a shield to protect yourself. You didn't feel yourself using magic." She did not look like she understood any better. "You know you can use magic." She nodded with a slight look of annoyance. "You just only know the basics. Controlling what already exists." She nodded. "You create a shield subconsciously to protect yourself. It is a rare gift I have only read about it, never seen it."

A silence fell over them for a second as she took in what she had been told. Then her thoughts were painfully interrupted by a sharp pain in her right shoulder. It was so painful and strong, plus she had not been expected it, so she was knocked off her feet and landed harshly on the grass. Before she had a chance to take in what happened she felt Loki move to kneel next to her taking her right arm in his.

"It seems that you can only bring about a shield if you can see the danger coming."

She sharply pulled her arm away from him. "You punched me."

"I would have thought you would have been more angry about me throwing a knife at you."

"That didn't hurt me."

"I think it's more the shook. It could not have hurt that much."

"I can assure you it did."

He did his best to hide it, but she caught the hint of a self-satisfied smile cross his face. At least he had the decency to hide it. Wanting to change the subject in case he received a punch in return. "Did your Mother teach you."

Her eyes widen a little as she looked more closely at him. "No." she quickly answered.

"I apologise…."

"No its fine. I get it from her though."

"From what I know, she must have been a fascinating person. I would have liked to meet her."

"So would I."

The hint of smile was on her face. It was not painful for her to think of her Mother. It was for her Father as he had known and loved her. She had never had the chance. How could you love what you have never had. She could not tell her Father this, she had never told anyone that she felt this way. Out of fear they would think her cold-hearted. Though she felt Loki would understand. She was about to speak when his name was called by a loud voice. She saw Loki sigh a little as she practically jumped to his feet.

"It seems dear big brother wishes my presence. Most likely so he can show off some new fighting move or gloat about a victory." He held out his right hand to help her up. "Why don't you come with me."

She wanted to. She really did, but she couldn't. "I should return home. My Father will worry." He looked as disappointed as she sounded. "Maybe other time."

She reached out with her unhurt left arm to take him hand. He quickly pulled it away and took her hand in his left. "That is a promise." He said while he pulled her to her feet.

He did this was such force, force she now truly believed that he did not know he had. That she hit against his chest and they were almost knocked over. With the speed that she had also come to quickly notice that he possessed he balance himself and stopped them from falling. Hearing Thor call his name again, a little louder this time he let her hand go and ran off.

A few minutes later she return home to a large hug from her father and an equally large meal. She told him all of the events of the day. Thought she left out much of what had happened in the park. Not knowing how he would react to her talk of magic, as it linked so much to her Mother. She in turn was told that Thor and bested Fandral in a sparring match that afternoon. She now knew that is was Thor's need to gloat and boast of victory to his younger brother that forced Loki to leave the park. She now felt a little less upset that she had not taken the Prince up of his offer

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**I really hope that you liked the first chapter. I have written fanfic's before, but none with an oc as the main character. I really don't want Eir to turn into a Mary sue. So I would be very grateful if she ever becomes one you would let me know, so I can fix it. She will have her own skills as in the mythology she is the goddess of healing, but she won't be as powerful as Loki or Thor. Nor will she be as important to the plot. **

**I have planned to write about 15 chapter of all the characters growing up, then about the same on the events of the movies, adding Eir. Then I will move onto my own plot. That being said I would very much like to hear from you about any stories from the mythology that you would like to see in the story. I have thought of how to work some of the main ones into this story, but I would love to hear what you would like to read I am using the comic's journey into mystery, the kid Loki part, as a basis for this story too. I am not overly familiar with the comics or the films, so if I get anything wrong then please let me now. **

**I did plan to add an outline about Eir in this chapter, background and skills. So that you had an idea about her before the story really starts, but I thought that I could do that in the story. However I worry that I may not be able to find a way to work it all in so that it doesn't feel like exposition. I added as much as I could with just saying it in this chapter, but I don't think I am very good at setting things up without it coming out as exposition, so I don't know if it made any sense. So I would like to know if you would like that in this next chapter. If there is anything that doesn't make sense. **

**I know that I have asked a lot of you. I am just really unsure of this story. So any comments or idea as well as constructive criticism are very welcome. Thank you. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you will like the rest of the story. I asked in the last chapter if you thought I should add a note in this chapter about Eir's backstory and things so I didn't have to try and work it in to the story as exposition. As no one reviewed I do not have an answer to this question. I thought though that it couldn't hurt to do so, so here goes. **

**Eir is the goddess of healing and protection. That latter part is the reason for the shield that she is able to put up. I added this so that she would be able to take part in the action without having to be saved or looked after, but also not making her a warrior or anything like that. I think of her as a kind of magical combat medic. Her magic is not as powerful as Loki's. Magic is the power to alter the psychical reality with the power of your mind. With that in mind I see Loki as an illusionist and a reality wrapper. He alters physical matter. The wine into snakes stuff. Eir is not powerful enough to do that. She can move and control what is already there. So her magic is more like telekinesis. If you have seen avatar then it will also be used a little like bending. The former will come more into play later on. Her Mother is mixed race being part Alfheim, this is the reason that she is able to use magic, and part Vanaheim. The realm of those that can see the future. That is not a power that she will really have. It will be used a little, this chapter will be the biggest use of it, but it will be a kind of small thing that will carry on throughout the story. Her parents married and had her, sadly her Mother died shortly after she was born. So she grew up with her Father. A captain in the army. I don't honestly have a name for him. If you have one then I would love to hear it so I can give him name.**

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Her eyes shot open and as quickly as she could she pulled herself up to a sitting position. Her breathing was a little strained. This was not a very uncommon occurrence, nor though was it a common one. A part of her heritage, a very small part, a quarter if you were being accurate was Vanaheim. The realm of those that could see the future. She herself could not do that neither could her Mother. At least that is what her father had told her on one of the rare occasion when she was young enough to ask him about her Mother without fear of upsetting him. While this was not a vision it was a dream, a black dream. Where she felt such a strong series of emotions, relief, happiness and fear as well as angry, but did not know what was casing them.

The bedroom door was opened and a faint light poured into the room. It seemed she had yelled out a little when she woke up. Her Father slowly walked into the room. "Are you well."

She nodded. He worried about her, but did not like to ask about her dream. It was a link to her Mother a reminder of her presence. Eir's very existence was a constant reminder of her Mother. Sometimes she wonder if it brought her Father more pain than joy to be around her. She was told from the few people that would dare to bring it up to her that she looked like her mother. If it was hard, almost impossible for him to talk about her, then she could only imagine what it must he like to have to look at her.

Carefully he sat on the edge of her bed. Reaching out he tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you sure."

"Yes Father. I promise."

She caught him glancing back to the door. He wanted to leave. Did not want to talk of her dream as he knew why she had it, but he loved her and did not want to leave her if she was distressed. Scooting forward on her knees she wrapped her arms around his neck. She could feel his shoulder relax at his as he hugged her back.

"Try and get some rest."

"I will."

He kissed her on the forehead after they pulled apart. Eir then moved back to pull the covers around her. Laying down she watched her Father leave and close the door behind him. For a few minutes she did not move. She could hear him moving back to his room. Once she was sure he was sleeping or close to it again, she moved to sit up. She would get no more sleep this night. She never did after the dream. She turned her attention to the candle on her bedside table. Focusing on it she created a small flame that lit the room. Worrying that it was too bright she dulled it a little, before picking up her current book. It was a large book of magic, mainly simple magic. Glancing up out of the window to her right. She saw the castle bathed in faint moon light. Except for one window where a faint light could be seen. Though she did not know for sure, she had a very good idea whose room it was that every night was filled with a faint warm glow.

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"Eir."

"No."

"Eir."

"I said no."

"I thought we were friends."

With a frustrated sigh she stopped walking and turned around. It was true in the almost year that they had known each other Eir and the second Prince had become good friends. That did not meant that they did not annoy each other. she was sure that her standoffishness could irritating him when she didn't get as excited about learning something new as he did or she didn't respond with as much amassment as he had wanted when he showed her a new trick. She was getting better at that, it was just hard when your whole life you are conditioned to be more controlled and detached.

She could see that he felt the same way. He was not what would be expect of a Prince of Asgard. He did not much like to act like you either. He was smart rather than strong. Fast rather than strong. Simply he was just not as psychically strong as other Agrarians. His family and most people seemed to be trying to push him into fitting that mould more. He seemed at least in a small way to be trying to fight that or at least hold on to who he was as well as pleasing everyone.

He really irritated her when he did not let things go he seemed to have a need to know everything. Most of the time this did not bother her. It, due to their closeness allowed her to learn things that she would never have been able to before. In such a short space of time her magic had grown. Not to his level, she knew it never would, but it was still stronger. This need of his when directed at her almost made her want to physically lash out at him. He was so stubborn.

"Come on. I tell you everything."

She still did not turn to face him and kept walking along one of the long cloister of the castle. "No you don't. I just happened to be able to tell when you are lying or planning something. You have no choice."

"Yes I do. I can choose to lie to you better."

"You couldn't do it."

Realising that this back and forth was going to get him nowhere. Loki decided to use a different, more direct approach. He called her name loudly and with a hint of anger in it. As she finally turned to face him he pulled out one of his throwing knifes. He aimed for where he knew her heart should be in a few seconds, she however moved slower than he had expected. The knife, if she had not seen the knife coming towards her and involuntary put up a small shield to block it, would have his her on her shoulder.

Not giving a second thought she quick puller out her dagger that her Father had given her for her last birthday from its hiding place, tucked into her right boot and throw it towards Loki. He did not move. He looked a little surprised, but showed no real worry about the dagger that was currently traveling quickly towards the left side of his chest.

A small shriek coming from behind her caught Eir's attention. Forcing her to turn around. The shriek had come from a guard that had clearly frozen to the spot when he saw one of the Princes throwing a knife at someone and had found some of his voice again when he had seen her retaliate in kind. Effectively aiming to injure the Prince. Turning back she was greeted with an empty space where Loki had just been standing and her dagger lying on the ground.

"That could have killed me you know." There was a hint of a held back laugh to his voice.

"So could you." She turned to her right where Loki emerged from behind a pillar, a smug smile on his face.

"I believed in you." He answer airily as he walked over to pick up her dagger.

Without thinking she bent down to pick up the knife that had just been thrown at her. "You aimed for my heart."

"So you have one."

"I could say the same about you." She crossed her arms over her chest, as she smiled a smug smile. "And you would have ended up hitting my axillary artery."

"And you really aimed for my lung." He now stood a foot in-front of her. "I think we can call it even." He held her dagger out to her in his left hand, while he held his empty right hand out for her to return his knife. With a small nod she reclaimed her dagger and returned the Prince's weapon. With a small laugh they started to walk on again.

They only took a step forwards till Eir remembered the guard. Loki seemed surprised to still see him standing there, frozen to the spot. She didn't know if he had known that the guard had been there before, if he had known he had forgotten all about it as he made his appearance from behind the pillar. Eir did her best not to laugh out loud at the sight of the shocked guard. He was very tall and broad, yet he looked like a terrified child.

Loki was the first to move. Walking forwards towards the guard in large strides his head held high. Eir quickly fooled him. As they passed the guard they each walked on a different side. Loki stopped just as he passed the guard. "Hard day. You look like you've seen a ghost."

The guard suddenly moved spinning round. Loki too moved quickly grabbing Eir by the wrist he pulled her with him as he ran back into the castle. He didn't stop running till they were out of the castle he led them into the park in-font of the castle were they had first really spoke. He would have kept going if she had not begun to get tired. She was fast, but he was faster and had better stamina. Digging her heels in to the path, she called his name.

When he stopped running and let wrist go he turned to look at her. Glancing quickly behind her. He offered a sheepish smile. He clearly didn't realise how far he had ran dragging her with him. "What did you do this time."

"Why must I have done something."

"Because you're Loki. He looked like he would kill you once he regained his scenes." He shrugged and moved to flop down to sit under a nearby tree. "Why did you say anything."

"Couldn't help it. If we had not done anything he could have remained like that for norns knows how long."

"I ask again, what did you do."

He smirked as he leant back against the tree. "Ah so you want me to tell you something. Yet when I ask you do the same thing you refused."

"Then you try and kill me."

"I didn't even hurt you."

"Are we really arguing about the degree to wish you aimed a throwing knife at me."

"No. we are engaging in what I believe is called a stalemate. We each wont information from each other. The simplest thing it would seem would be to simply tell each other what we want to know."

She couldn't help but laugh as she moved to sit down next to him. Leaning back against the tree, shoulder to shoulder with Loki. "Fine. You go first."

"I don't think so. Yours is the more serious piece of information, mine can be used to lighten the mood after you have told me yours."

"You really are able to talk your way around anything. Silvertongue." She could feel him tense a little at her use of his nickname. It was more the tone with which he was called it normally that irritated him, not what the name meant. Feeling a little bad about bringing it up, despite not using a harsh tone, Eir nudged his shoulder before she spoke again. "It was not a vision. It was just a dream really. I don't see anything or hear anything. I just feel these feelings so strongly. I feel scared, terrified. Then relieved, more relieved than I have ever felt before. Happy too, really happy. That doesn't last very long, I soon feel sad. Devastated. Then angry. More angry then I have ever felt before, it is unstoppable. That is what scares me the most. Being that angry."

The whole time she had been talking she had not looked at Loki. Now that she was finished she looked over at him. His face was still. No sign of any emotion showed at all. She knew better though. Looking at his eyes she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He had, at least she believed he had the most immaculate poker face in the universe. After a second or so he let out a small breath, a sigh he had finished think, at least about what they were talking about, his mind never seemed to stop turning and turned to face her.

"Since part of your heritage comes fromVanaheim, the realm of prophets. It makes sense that in a small way you can see or feel the future. Most likely you are feeling the strongest feelings that you will feel in your lifetime. As it is only a small part of who you are."

"That makes sense." She agreed. "It is not very reassuring however."

"Your lifetime is a long one, a very long one. You don't have to fear any of it now."

She was silent for a few seconds taking in what he had said. In a way she had always known that was what her dream was. Somehow hearing it from someone else made it seem more real. It was not a really unpleasant fact, it was just that she did not ever really talk about these kind of things.

"Ok, it's your turn to cheer me up. What did you do."

Crossing his arms Loki spoke sounding deeply hurt. "I resent that. You imply that I did something with the sole purpose of causing mischief." He looked into her eyes, but they were as dark, and some would say cold as always. "I was merely practicing an illusion, and he happened to turn around into the corridor at the wrong time."

"What illusion."

"Oh nothing really…just a large Hel wolf." Her eyes widened a little, a hint of excitement now showed too. "I may have been practising it so that I could scare Thor as he turned the corner and happened to get the wrong person. He also may have chased me to the main hall. Where I was saved by family being there for breakfast. At least from psychical pain. Father was not pleased."

"The All-Mother must have been proud."

He smiled widely. "She was, not that she could say so."

She had kiss him on the forehead before he left for his lessons and told him not to worry about his Father. Also that he should not practice that kind of magic on people that didn't know what he was doing. He had also noticed her holding back a laugh as she was told what had happened. Thor had no such self-control and laughed out loud. Slapping his brother painfully on the back. Then had quickly warned him in a teasing manner not to really try that on him or he would be forced to go harder on him in training.

The image started to play in her head of the guard being scared and scream out in high pitched voice at the sight of Loki's illusion of a Hel wolf. She was about to laugh out loud at the image playing in her mind, when Loki suddenly covered her mouth with his hand. She couldn't really move her head, so she squinted her eyes to see him. He was unmoving. Just as she was about to forcefully try and move, she heard a voice. As they grew closer, Loki removed his hand from her mouth and pushed her around to the other side of the tree.

A voices was joined by anther. Two soldiers pasted them close by the tree. They had just returned from a hunting trip to the western woods. They were not talking about their kills as would have been expected. Instead they were talking in low voices about something that they were convinced they had seen in the woods. A Hel wolf.

The more they listened the wider the grin of Loki's face grow. Once the soldiers had past he turned to Eir. She was not looking at him as he had thought she would be. Instead of looking as excited as he was, she was giving him the look she did when she knew he had lied or been apart of some kind of trick.

"What."

"A Hel wolf."

"You think I did it."

"Who else. A real Hel wolf in Asgard. That is impossible."

He for the second time that day grabbed her wrist. "That is what makes it so exciting."

Before she could say or do anything Loki teleported them into the western woods, to the area the soldiers were talking about. Once the world around her became clear again, she turned to yell at Loki. When she saw him she didn't quit have the heart too. He looked paler than normal, which was saying a great deal. His hold on her wrist was let go, as he bent forward a little, trying to catch his breath. He was powerful, but he was still not yet able to use such powerful magic in such a short space of time. Teleporting and the illusion he cast earlier were taking their toll.

Taking a step forward she placed her arm around his back, lightly holding him encase he lost his balance. "Are you alright." Concern was clear in her voice.

"Oh Eir I didn't know you cared so."

"Less and less by the second." Worry was still clear in her voice.

She started to think of the little that she knew of healing magic. Which was not very much. It had only been a short section in the book of magic she was currently reading. Though it had interested her greatly. He was just tired, no healing spell could really fix that. It would only leave her feeling a little weaker. Still seeing him weakened made her want to do something to help. She hated seeing anyone in pain. Her Father had long since learned to hide any injury he received as she would only worry and fuss over him.

"I admit that was not my best idea."

Eir was about to agree with him, when a sound that sent a shiver down their spins cut through the air of the small clearing they had arrived in. "I assume it is too late to still hope that is was you that created an illusion of a Hel wolf."

"Maybe if you believe hard enough it will be so." He tried to laugh a little but could not. His arm lifted to wrap tightly around her waist as they turned to face where the noise had come from.

It grew louder the second time they heard it. They should have moved, thought of something, but Loki was too tired and Eir was too scared to think straight. The silence that followed the second time they heard the sound was almost worse. Not knowing if they would hear it again. If it was getting closer. If they would have enough time to react, do anything if they did hear it again as the Hel wolf came down them.

The third time they did near it was no longer a growl but almost a roar. They had almost no time to react in anyway as the large Hel wolf leaped out from the bushes in-front of them. Loki was just able to move. Letting go of his hold on Eir he used all the energy he had left to push her away. Using his magic to push her a good twenty feet away.

Once she pulled herself up of the ground she watched in horror as the Hel wolf stood over the fallen Loki. She screamed his name, just as he sharply pulled his right arm free form under the Hel wolf's large paw. With a strong thrust he stabbed the Hel wolf with one of his knifes right in the heart. It growled one last time before it fell forward landing over half of Loki's body. Quickly she sprung to life and ran towards him. Together they pushed the Hel wolf off of Loki.

As soon as he was free she throw her arms around his neck. "You scared me you dim-wit."

He laughed a little and hugged her back. "I don't think it was going to kill me."

Pulling back she looked at him shook. Letting her go he turned to face the Hel wolf. She followed his gaze, seeing for the first time the large wound on the creatures back. It must have been injured by the soldiers before. They would have thought that they would have heard them boasting about how they had been able to hit a Hel wolf

"Poor creature. It should not have been hear."

He nodded as he stood up. "Then why was it."

Though it did not give them a clear answer it gave them an idea, when they heard a faint whimpering sound coming from the bushes the Hel wolf had leapt out from. Both of them felt their shoulders sink as they realised what had happened and what was casing the sound. The terrifying Hel wolf had been protecting her child. Without a word they followed the sound. A little into the woods the found a small black bundle huddled up in a ball under a tree.

Carefully they approached the baby wolf, as it could not be a Hel wolf as it looked so small, as not to frighten it. It lifted its head a little. It had large black eyes surrounded by grey patches of fur. Its eyes were large and seemed to be pleading with them. With a quick glance to each other they agreed on what they should do. Very slowly Loki picked the baby wolf up into his arms. Once there the wolf nuzzled their head into his chest. Walking back to its Mother Eir focused her magic to start a small fire that would soon consume the Hel wolf then burn out. It did not seem right to just leave her body like that. In their heads they thanked the norns and then left to return to the city.

It was a long walk as Loki could not teleport them back. The sun had started to set as they finally returned. Eir knew her Father would be starting to worry about her, but she had to make sure the baby wolf was fine first. They first stopped at the castle kitchen to sneak out some food and water. Luckily Loki was very skilled at this and they were not seen. He then led them to a small storage room in the lower level. It was filled with old tools that were used to care for the castle grounds. No one used this room he said. It was the perfect palace to keep him, because he was sure it was a boy.

"He will need a name." she said as she stocked him under his chin. He was adorable and good-natured. He had warmed up to them very quickly especially Loki.

"Fenrir." In response Fenrir gave a small yelp. "Do you like that then." Loki said while ruffling his head.

"It would seem he does." A soft voice filled the room.

Spinning round to the door Loki and Eir came face to face with the All-Mother. Frigga looked at her youngest son and his friend with an unreadable expression. So that was where he got it from Eir thought. Loki recovered quickly and began explaining what had happened. To Eir's surprise Loki did not lie to his Mother about anything. He most likely would not be able to get away with if he had tried. The Queen's sharp yet at the same time soft eyes told her that she could see through his lies. Once he was finished Frigga allowed herself to let out a small laugh.

"Why does trouble always seem to find you my son."

"I'm just luck I guess."

Eir now let out a faint laugh, causing the Queen to turn to look at her properly for the first time. "Lady Eir. It is a pleasure to meet you properly." Eir bowed her head a little not knowing what else to do. She had seen the Queen before, spoken to her, but that was always in a formally situation and her Father would always be with her. "I did not have the pleasure of knowing your Mother very well, but I can see you take after her."

"Thank you, you're high…."

"Please child." Eir let out a deep breath as she relaxed a little. "My son has told me a great deal about you." She did not need to look at said son to see that he must be blushing a little now. "You have a special skill I am told."

"It is nothing really."

"No, do not underestimate yourself. Most people are stronger than they would ever believe themselves to be." Eir smiled a little proudly. "In fact I wanted to ask you, as you have a talent for magic if you would like to join Loki and I for his lessons."

She only glanced quickly at Loki before she answered. "It would be an honour."

"I am pleased to hear it. You should properly run home now. Your Father must be getting worried."

With another bow she ran off. Leaving the Queen and second Prince. With one last pat Loki moved to follow his Mother who was starting to make her way to the main hall for dinner. It was agreed that neither Odin nor Thor should know of Fenrir just let. Wrapping her arm around his shoulder she pulled her youngest son to her, to kiss him on the top of his head.

"Why do I worry you are only going to case more mischief as you get older." She smiled as she spoke.

"Thor is just as bad in his own way, and it would be terrible boring if I did not."

"Aye, that it would."

* * *

**I hope that you have enjoyed this new chapter. Thank you again for reading. I know that there is not much of Loki really in this, as a character that is. I just don't really have a handle of him yet. Kid Loki is my basis for writing him, but I have to think of how that can lead into who he is in the films. I have more of an idea about what to do with him and how to write him later on. So please bear with me. I would like to ask the same questions that I did in the last chapter. I won't boar you by repeating them again, but if you could take a few minutes to answer them or offer any feedback, good or bad I would be very grateful. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you like the new chapter. I am very sorry that it has been so long since my last up-date. I have had a few problems with my computer. After five years it has finally gaven in. I have had to wait about a week to get a new one and get it all set up. Anyway it is all sorted now and I am back to work.**

* * *

Her breathing was labours and short. Her arms were starting to feel very heavy. All and all she was tired and annoyed, no book, not even a rare text from Alfheim was worth this. If he did not have that glint in his eyes that told her that he was not about to back down on the matter anytime soon, he was having too much fun, then she would have given up a long time ago. She would have given up after the target practice. This was just too much. She was no warrior. She would never be, no one expected her to be. No one except Loki it seemed. It was not that simply she knew. He understood what it was like to have to do things that you were not interested or even slightly skilled in to gain the approval of your Father.

The thin metal staff in her hands continued to hit the similar staff that Loki held. Every now and again when she felt she had an opening she would go on the attack. Most of the time though she deafened herself against the almost endless attacks form the young Prince. What he lacked in strength he made up for in speed and stamina. She to found her strengths, for what they were in these areas too, but he greatly out matched her.

"I concede. You will." As she spoke she lowered her staff.

Loki had been in the middle of aiming an attack to her right side, he stopped his staff a mere inch from her arm. "It is not about winning."

"Then this is even more pointless."

Slowly he moved his staff away from Eir. "You have to be able to defend yourself."

"I can defend myself without any weapon." A smug tone crept into her voice.

He nodded agreeing that she was correct. Then in the blink of an eye his mischiefs grin spread across his face. It happened so faced she didn't notice him sweep his staff low, hitting her at her knees. The pain shot up her leg and forced her knees to buckle a little. She would have fallen to her knees if he had not took a step forward to catch her. Her head hit his chest and she felt more annoyed at him for not only knocking her over but catching her as well.

"Now that I have disproved that point can we continue."

Forcing her features into a harsh expression she pulled herself to her full height. Which was a good few inched shorter than Loki. He had grown a great deal in the last year. As had Fenrir, the Hel-wolf was now twice the size he had been when they found him, and that was only half the size that he would grow to be. The wolf in question stood on the side lines of the training grounds, laying in the warm sun.

A smart remark about how he would most likely have left a bruise on her right leg was on the tip of her tongue. She didn't say any of it as she while she pulled herself up caught sight of his arms. His sleeves had been rolled up and she saw that his pale arms were marked by bruises. Some of which seemed a little old and had begun to fade. He also had a few small cut. The only sharp objects they had used that was sharp were the throwing knifes that now litter the training grounds around them. She was sure that he had not cut himself, the marks had to be old. Gods healed quickly, but Loki she had noticed seemed to bruise very easily. So did she, but she knew why that was.

With a sigh she picked up her staff that had dropped to the ground. Taking a stance she waited for him to make the first move. Which he did by aiming for the same place he had just hit her. This was a way to get her into the flow of the spare. The longer the match, if it could he called that went on the faster they became. She knew that he had been holding back with her before, he still was but she was starting to go on the attack more.

"I knew you would be better with the staff than the sword."

She quickly shot him a look to not bring that up again as she swung for his head. He ducked a little and swiped at her stomach. A few months ago Loki had gotten it into his head that she had to learn to use a weapon of her own. He had been moved up to Thor's group for training and part of that had been finding a weapon that best suited him. This turned out to be a task that was more difficult than he had expected it to be. He had ended up mainly settling for throwing knifes, as they were the weapon he was more comfortable with, but he also trained with a staff. The thinking being that training with both a short and long ranged weapon would stop him from becoming too dependent on one set of skills.

The sword had been his first idea. She could use a dagger and throwing knifes, but he felt she should be as well-rounded as she could as well. While he said he was doing this to help her, she knew that is was more to do with giving him more time to train himself. Even though she was no real challenge to him and he had to hold back. She guessed that even though he did not want to admit it he wanted to get better, so he was not as far behind his Brother. He put on an air of not caring, being content to find his own path and embrace his own strengths, but there was a part of him that wanted to fit in more, be seen in the same way Thor was. As a true Prince, he felt like he was falling short in what was expected of him.

As they feel into a rhythm their speed picked up, as did the force with which they aimed for each other. In response to one attack that he did not see coming Loki was forced to reach out with his left hand to grab hold of her staff just before he was hit. He then used this to his advantage as he sharply forced the staff back towards her, aiming to hit her on the shoulder. Neither let go of the staff and Eir was forced to drop down to avoid being hit. Out of instinct she swiped her leg out trying to knock Loki off his feet. He saw this coming and jumped into the air, finally letting go of her staff. As he moved to stand up again he came down to the ground. Both aimed to attack the other but as most attacks before they blocked each other. This time neither pulled back to attack again. It was a battle of strength. One that Eir knew she would not win. However if she held her own for a little while that he may take it as a sort of draw and that would be an end to this.

Her dark eyes lifted up to meet his. He smiled at her. Not a smug smile a real smile. The kind that he did not offer ever often. Despite her annoyance with him, she could not help but smile back at him. That may be the most infuriating thing about him, and the reason he seemed to be able to get away with all the tricks he played and the lies he told. He would flash that smile and you would feel a little guilty for judging him so harshly. He was just a young boy with an endless curiosity and thrust for knowledge. He meant no harm, it was just his nature to tease and provoke.

Before either could say anything or had a chance to win the sound of a hollow clapping filled the air. Realising the tension in their arms they turned to face the sound. From the side lines of the training grounds three blond haired figures walked toward them. The only female walking in-between the two taller men had been the one to clap, and was the first to speak.

"I see you finally found an opponent of your skill Loki." She laughed a little. As did the shorter, but younger of the two men. The other, the Prince Thor did not respond to Sif's comment.

"Don't worry Sif I'm sure you will find someone at your level too someday. Stanger things have happened." His eyes now feel on Fandral, who had just laughed at him. "For example. Fandral finally being able to tie his own shoes. After what, almost two hundred years."

"Loki." Thor finally spoke. He hated it when his brother and his friend's bickered like his. It was done with good humour, but he still did not like it. Especially not when Loki had that look in his eyes. That look always meant that he was going to push things to far, just to see if he could and how far he could push it.

"It's all in good humour brother." He flashed his best smile, but Eir how stood beside him could see from his eyes it was fake. "Fandral knows that I only bring it up out of respect."

All humour washed off of Fandral's face as he moved forward. He only made it a few steps before he felt his legs unable to move and feel to the grounds. As quickly as he feel he pushed himself up, with the sound of laughter ringing in his ears. Once sitting up he realised the reason for his fall, the laces of his boots had come undone. Hurriedly he re-tied them and almost jumped to his feet. Though she still laughed a little Sif offered a friendly hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Fandral. Loki just hides behind his tricks."

Eir was normally a fairly calm and detached person, but the tone of Sif's words grated on her. Tricks, that word infuriated her. If she had any idea the amount of effort, skill, time and power it took to perform even the simplest of her so called tricks she would not speak as disparagingly as she was. Seeing red she moved forward. Picking up on his friend's intent, Loki acted quickly dropping his staff and wrapping an arm around Eir's waist. She struggled against his hold a little, but soon gave up.

She could almost hear his voice in her head. "She is not worth it."

Sif too had noticed Eir's movement. "I know you don't fully understand Eir. It is just not done for a Prince to hide behind magic."

She was not a fool she knew what Sif was saying. As she was not fully Asgardian she could not fully grasp the importance of strength and ferocity. There she would admit some truth to that, but it still angered her more. She also knew why Sif was acting this way. For a women to be seen as equal to a man, she had to be twice as good as he was. This was mostly an act for the benefit of Thor and Fandral and in a way Loki. This seemed to annoy herself more someone else that seemed to be acting the way people expected or wanted them to, rather than being themselves.

One of her arms was pinned to her side by Loki's firm hold the other was free. Taking advantage of his she suddenly shot it out in-front of her. As she did all six of the throwing knifes that they had been practicing with before lifted form the ground, covered in a dark blue glow. They proceeded to speed towards Sif. They them moved from their current directions, as they pined his by her arms and legs to the wall of the storage building.

Loki's hold on her slipped away, but he kept a hand on the small of her back. He wanted to make sure that they could both make a fast get away if it came to that. He was greatly surprised by the sudden change in tone. While he had wanted to stir things a little, he had only meant it in jest. That was just how he was with Thor's friends. Eir it seemed despite her cold nature, was more sensitive than he had thought.

Sif was too stunned to even try and move or speak. Eir however did not seem to have that problem. "I am so sorry Cousin. My tricks just got out of hand."

Sif was smart, smarter than she would like to admit. She understood that she had insulted her cousin, brought up a subject, however subtly, that she knew she should not have. Her head lowered a little, just as the daggers were pulled from the wall and she was freed. Looking up she saw a smiling Eir. A little reluctantly she smiled back. "Then you should train more. You could hurt someone."

"And won't that be a shame." Loki added.

"It would depend greatly on the person." Thor continued.

As they had spoken the five young Asgardian's waked to meet each other in the centre of the training grounds. Thor while he would never say it out loud, he had a reputation to up hold, but he was slightly impressed with this brother's skill. True he was not as strong or fierce as he was, but he did have skills of his own. He was most definitely determined. Once he set his mind to something, whatever it was he never backed down. That could be both a great trait and a very negative one. Depending on weather you were on the receiving end of his determination.

Just the other day he had seen Loki best Fandral in a spare, when they had both been using swords. Fandral's weapon of choice. It had been close, but in the end Loki had been the victor. At the time he had not praised his brother. He worried that it may be unfair to Fandral, there was also the chance that it had been a fluke. Seeing him just now, even though Eir was not really a threat, he was starting to think that his brother was more skilled that he and their friends gave him credit for. Not that he would ever admit this to anyone. There were still things that as a Prince of Asgard they had to do, and things that were not seemly.

"So you have given up on the sword then Loki." Fandral asked as he gave the younger Prince a slap on his back.

"I am merely helping Eir find a weapon of her own. The sword…." He caught her eyes staring at him. Clearly telling him not to say anything. With a small smirk he went on. "Was not for her."

"Of course, swords can be heavy and….." He was cut off by a sharp blow to his head. Turning to look at his attacker he was met with a stern glare from Sif.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Loki will still take up the sword to best you."

It was very rare for Sif to say anything in praise of Loki. Everyone seemed so shocked by the comment that they did not know what to say. Loki who had a way with words, was the first to find his voice again.

"It is nice to know that you have such faith in me Sif." Eir gave him a small nudge. She knew that her cousin was clearly feeling a little exposed by what she had just said. Heeding her warning he changed his train of thought. "And I have nothing against fighting with a sword."

Nodding his head Fandral moved over to a rack of swords to his right. "Why don't we see if you are as lucky this time."

"Luck. It was not luck."

"Then prove it." Picking up a sword he throw it to Loki, then picked up another for himself.

Thor looked form his Brother to his friend. He did not like this new turn of event. Fandral was very skill with a sword, as good as Loki as defending himself he could not help but worry about this. If Loki did win, then he would just be setting himself up for more attention on his fighting skills. If Fandral won, Loki would still set attention, but for a very different reason. Either way he knew that this was not going to end well. So he did something that he had never done before. He tried to put a stop to a fight. "There is no reason for this…."

"Yes there is." Loki answered.

"Brother….."

Loki turned to face Thor, a harsh look in his eyes. It was just as Thor had thought, Loki had set him mind to this. He had people who, for once were on his side and a brother that doubted him. He was not going to back down. After Thor admitted defeat and moved with Sif to stand on the side-lines, Loki turned to Eir who still stood by his side. She said nothing. She just gave him a look. As she had been sure she had almost heard his voice in her head before, she was sure he could hear hers in his now. Telling him that he was acting like a fool.

The spare seemed to escalate rather fast. Each of the men had something to prove. Standing on the side-lines between two girls, who made it clear who they were silently supporting by when they would take in a sharp breath, stood a very conflicted Thor. Hiding a little now behind Eir's legs was Fenrir, who did not seem to like seeing his master fighting like his. They were both evenly matched. What one lacked in energy and strength he made up for in speed and strategy, and vice versa. It was clear that thismfight was not going to end any time soon unless one of the competitors could find a way to gain an advantage.

Then all of a sudden it seemed that one of them had. Loki seemed to stumble a little. Seeing the opportunity Fandral moved to strike. Loki did not seem to see this coming right way. Then when he did out of shock and a little fear he raise his free left arm as a reflex to block the sword. Even from the distance between them the spectators could see the look of utter horror at what was going to happen wash across Fandral's Face. As the sword sliced through the young Princes's arm his face turned a ghostly white.

Five sets out screams and yells of varying pitched quickly filled the training ground. Loki's understandably was the loudest. Eir's was a close second and there was not much between hers and Thor's. For a few seconds no one moved, they were frozen in shock. Once feeling came back to them, and Loki started to feel the pain and moaned out loud, they all ran to his side. Pain was clear on Thor's face as he took in the sight of his little Brother in such pain. When he reached him he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. His voice was low but a few words. "It will be ok." Could be heard.

Eir's mind went into action, running over all of the things that she had learned and read about healing magic. It was not much, but she tried to piece together what she knew to think of something that could help. Unlike the three others standing around she was the only one that seemed to not be but off by the blood and damage to Loki's arm. Once she had an idea in her mind of what to do worked out, she moved her hand towards the wound. As she looked more closely at it something seemed strange.

Just before she could make contact, Loki's moaning turned into a soft laugh. Then a very familiar to them all by now, green glow appeared around the wound. The wound disappear, learning his arm as it had been before. Slowly Loki lifted his head to look at everyone that had gathered round him. Thor let out a nervous laugh. Feeling so relieved that his Brother was unharmed. Neither Sif nor Fandral knew how to react. They saw some humour in his trick, they had also never seen magic used in that way before.

"That was a cruel trick Brother." Thor sighed as he reached to take Loki hand to pull him to his feet.

Loki smirked a little "Just a bit of fun."

Three faint laughs filled the air now. Turning to look at Eir, Loki didn't see her standing at his side as she had been before. A little way in the distance he saw her back as she walked away. All trace of humour lift his face and was replaced by confusion. Of everyone he had expected her to react the best to his bit of fun. Looking then to his Brother for an explanation or ant idea what had just happened, all he got was a shrug. Then he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

"You are going to have to do something big."

Turning to face Fandral he was about to tell him that he was wrong when Sif spoke up. "Oh yes very big."

* * *

There was a cold breeze that night. Eir had had to use an extra blanket to keep warm. She had only been asleep for an hour or soon when he was woken by a scraping at her window. Sighing a little as she knew that there could be only one thing that would cause that sound. Pulling the blankets from her she moved over to her window. Opening it up she found Fenrir standing up on his back legs so he could reach her window. Reaching out she patted the Hel-wolf on the head. In doing so she noticed that there was a note balancing magically behind one of his large ears. With another sigh she opened the note. Of course it was a magic note. Running her hand over it she revealed the words written on the page. They were directions.

With a huff of irritation that she knew that she would end up following the directions of the note, she moved over to her wardrobe and pulled out a long jacked that she had recently been given. Then she laced up her boots and climbed as quietly as she could through the window. Fenrir ran off ahead of her, leading the way to a place that she already knew her way to. The note told her to go to a small clearing in the woods.

When she got there she was met by Loki standing string to his fall height, his hands held behind his back. He was dressed in what he had been wearing early that day. It gave her some satisfaction knowing that she had maybe made him feel guilty enough to be thinking it over all day. Though his face did not show any sigh that he felt overly guilty. He looked a little smug if she had to call it anything.

Once she was close enough he held out his hand to her. "Do you trust me."

There was no answer that she could give to that, no simple answer. So she just reached out and took his hand. The second she felt his hand take hold of hers, she felt the world spin around her. She knew this feeling all too well. Almost more so than before she was excited to see where this was going to lead. As her surroundings focused around her again, she found herself standing on top of a small five feet drop down in to a clearing. Loki still holding her hand moved to the edge.

"This is where you really have to trust me."

She again could not find an answer, so she nodded. After all five feet was not a big jump. It was shorted than even she was. Taking in a deep breath she jumped with him.

She watched the ground getting closer, but almost right before her eyes she saw it all sped away. The world flashed around her images and different coloured lights moved around her but she could not focus on any of it. Her mind was spinning, she felt sick. Just before it became too much for her it all calmed down.

Landing a little less harshly than she had expected she looked around her to find that they were now standing on the side of a large hill that overlooked a city spread out in-front of her. A city that she had only even read about and seen pictures of in books. Books that she now knew has great underplayed the beauty of the city. The capital city of Alfheim.

"I thought you would like to see the city your Mother grow up in."

Slowly she tore her eyes from the city. "How did you…"

"It's not that hard. There are small tears, gaps between the realms." Her eyes widened as he spoke. "It is just a matter of minding them." He let out a small laugh. "This is the only one I have found so far."

After nodding her head she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had to stand a little on her tiptoes to reach him as he was quite a bit taller than her know. While letting out a sigh he wrapped his arms around her. For a second she let herself enjoy this amazing turn of events. Then her logical mind came into play and a though crossed her mind.

Pulling away sharply she looked him in the eyes. "Heimdall…"

"Cannot see us." She didn't have to say it for him to know what she was asking next. "I can block myself from his sight, and you too as you're with me. I have your special gift to thank for that."

Her shield, he had taken that, a skill be could learn himself, all be it with it not acting involuntary of himself, and expanded on it. She was very impressed by all that she had just found out her friend could do. Though there was a question she had to ask.

"So you only spoke to me all these years so you could learn…."

"No, of course…" He caught sight of a mischiefs glint in her eye. "Very funny."

"Just a bit of fun."

Realising that he was beaten in this argument, and that she had forgiven him, eh let it go. Turing away he looked back over the city. Eir placed a hand on his shoulder. Pulling him down a little so she could give him a quick kiss on the check.

"Thank you."

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**I am also not very happy with how this chapter came out, the next one should be better. I really hope that you liked the chapter and are enjoying the story. I really worried about writing the first part of this story. I am not very good at writing action. The basic idea being that she is agile, but not strong or very skilled. I also don't buy into the whole Loki can't really fight and was not very good at it as a child. It takes a lot of skill to beat four (I think) people with just dagger. **

**I have been debating over whether or not to add this, and decided to. I have also been debating over how many chapters of a story can you write without getting any feedback before it becomes sad. I don't have an answer, but I think around five. I am not writing this to try and make you review or comment. That is totaly up to you. I just feel that if there is a chance that I may stop writing the story then I should keep you informed. I know that there is a good number of people that are reading the story, which is great thank you very much. The thing is that I am really unsure about parts of this story. I am very worried that Eir may become a Mary-sue or she may already be one. You may not like what I am doing with her, or what I am doing to the existing characters. That is what I need you to tell me. Again I am not trying to blackmail you or anything I feel I should be honest. I like the idea I have for this story, but it is very different from the stories that I have written before. So simply I need help. Please give me some feedback so I can get better at writing and make this story better. Thank you. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you are enjoying the story. I promise that this chapter will be better than the last one. The plot starts to kick in a little here. At the very least things are set up for later on. **

**Poppy-Robins089. Thank you very much for being the first to review and for your comments. I was really worried that I was getting him wrong, glad to hear that he seems in character. Their relationship is very important to the story, again glad to hear that it is working. Thank you again.**

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Her unblinking eyes did not leave the dancing flame on the table in-front of her. Her breathing slowed a little as she felt some of her energy leaving her body and reaching out to touch the flame. As she did this she felt the flame growing in heat. Then slowly it began to grow in size. Forming a circler shape it steadily grew bigger. Her confidence grew too, causing her to allow more energy to seep into the fire. Just a split second before it happened she knew that it would. Her link to the fire was severed as she lifted her arms up to cover her face, from the fire speeding towards her. Her shield came up to protect her, but her instinct still kicked into protect her face.

Lowering her arms she looked around the room to see it there was any damage. The large open room at the top of one of the palace towers looked exactly as it had done before. Her shield must have been large enough to protect the room. That or the others in the room with her had seen what was coming before she did and protected themselves and the room. Knowing who was with her she was more inclined to believe the latter.

With a look of disappointment and slight embarrassment she turned to look at the Queen and Prince of Asgard. Frigga stepped forward, with a gentle smile on her face. She placed her hand on Eir's shoulder. "You did very well."

"I almost blow up the whole room."

"Well, maybe." In the last few years of learning magic form the All-Mother, Eir had realised that she was not one to sugar coat things. "Only because you underestimated yourself and your power." The crease between Eir's eyes caused by her confusion told the Queen that she had to explain. "You do not see how powerful you are. You didn't believe that you could do much more than spread the fire to a wider, area so you didn't focus enough. You are more powerful than you think you are."

"She is right you know." Loki finally spoke stepping forward to stand next to his Mother.

Eir felt a blush creep into her cheeks. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank us for telling you the truth. Have more faith in yourself. You have a great potential. You just have to find out which area you wish to channel this potential into."

With a nod she moved to the side of the room with the Queen. Making it clear that she no longer wished to be the centre of attention. After all she was not the only person in the room with a great potential, and she wanted to see what someone who was aware of their power could do. Frigga with a small flick of her hand lit the candle again. Stepping back she and Eir gave Loki some room to control the fire.

A slight grin crossed the Prince's face as he moved the fire into different shapes. From square to circle. As his confidence grew, so did his desire to show off a little or at the very least test how far he could manipulate the fire. The fire slowly slipped into the shape of a bird. Not just any bird however, it was a phoenix. The fire bird flew around the room, skimming close to the ceiling. Its tail stretched down to the wick of the candle like a tether.

Loki glance over at his audience, seeing the bright glow of the bird reflected in Eir's dark eyes. His grin softened a little, turning into a real smile. In taking his attention off of his fiery creation for just a second was all it took. The bird suddenly swooped down. Loki did not have an involuntary shield to protect him. He lifted his arm to defend himself, but he wasn't quick enough. The fire raced passed him, licking at his skin. Just as quickly as it had come, the fire was gone.

Letting out a deep breath he turned to face Eir and his Mother. They were unharmed, but looked a little shocked. A nervous laugh escaped his lips. "Well, you can't say that I underestimate my power."

Eir couldn't help herself, a faint laugh escaped her lips. Frigga too scoffed a little as she moved toward her son. "No my child you cannot."

"I still failed though."

"No, you did not fail. Neither of you did." She glanced to her left at Eir. Turning back to Loki her face retuned to a neutral expression. "You gave the fire, a basic element life."

"And I was burnt."

Eir scoffed loudly. Two pairs of pale eyes turned to her. "Well, technical…you did not get burnt."

"It is a figure of speech."

"A very poorly chosen one."

"Do you have to….."

"Loki." Frigga spoke, ending the bickering. "You gave life to the fire, it became a phoenix. Then it attacked you. As any bird would do once caged." He smiled a little proudly. "You my Son are too powerful for your own good."

"And too smart for his own good." Eir couldn't help but add.

Frigga didn't turn to face the young girl, but Loki shot her a harsh glare. "That is something that could be said of the two of you." Eir remained silent, Loki smiled at her.

"So I could maybe create…."

"Do not get ahead of yourself little one." Frigga stepped forward and kissed Loki on the forehead.

She was about to say more, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. After she called out for them to entre, a slightly shy guard pushed the door open and stepped into the large room. "All-Mother, the King wishes to speak to you."

"Thank you."

She moved to follow the guard, stopping just at the door. "You too are both blissed with great power and intelligence. It is a gift you should not waste, but you should also be wary of it. Too much knowledge and power without a place to properly channel it, can be greatly destructive." With that she closed the door behind her and left. Loki and Eir slowly now alone in their magical training room turned to face each other.

"What do you think she meant by that." Eir asked.

Loki was silent, trying to think of an answer. In the end all he could come up with was that his Mother was telling him to be careful with his magic, to not get ahead of himself, to push himself too far. Ultimately she was telling him, both of them that it was okay to be smart and possess strong magic, but they had to remember their limits. More importantly though to remember the limits that society was expected them to abide by. He greatly respected his mother. He did not see how he could be related to his Father or Brother. He loved them, but he was just so different form them. His Mother made him feel like he belonged. He knew that she was right, that he had to rain himself and his curiosity in, but where was the fun in that.

"I don't know." He answered Eir. "But I do know what we should do now."

Eir shook her head, she did not like the look in his eyes, he was up to something. "And what is that."

"You must have heard of the dwarf builder. He says he can build a wall around the whole city, in just six months."

"That's not possible."

"I know, he seems to think he can. When we left to come here he was talking to Father, trying to make a deal of some kind."

"And now you want to know what that deal is, so you can make sure that your Father wins."

"That Asgard wins, yes."

"He won't tell you…."

"He doesn't have to." The smirk was back.

She could figure out what he was thinking. He was most defiantly not listening to what his Mother had just told him. "No. That is…we are not..."

"Yes we are. She just told us we were." Taking a step forward he held out his right hand to her. "All you have to do is keep a shield up around us, so that we are not found out. I will do the rest."

She sighed, but knew that there was no point in fighting it. In the end she would help him, go along with his plan. After all were was the fun in not pushing you limits every now and again. Once she took his hand, she pulled up a shield around them that would stop the Queen from sensing them. Loki squeezed her hand a little as he performed his part. At first she didn't think that anything had happened. Maybe he was not powerful enough, yet anyway for such powerful magic. Then she glanced toward the large window behind Loki. She saw nothing. Nothing at all. They were insolvable. Loki had done it.

It was hard to tell he laughed the loudest at this discovery. Still holding hands as not to break either enchantments, they hugged quickly with their free arms. Loki then quickly led then through the palace to where he knew his Father would be, the throne room. Opening the side door slightly they listened to the end of the conversation, a conversation that they were not meant to hear.

It seemed that if the dwarf could in-fact build a wall around the entire city then he would receive a large reward. If he failed then, well that was not made clear. It was clear however that if he would it would be seen as a very large blow to Asgard's pride. Loki did not like the sound of that, from the look on his face his Father did not seem to either. It seemed that the dwarf's secret weapon was his horse. A white stallion that could carry twice as much as any other horse.

Almost as quickly as they had arrived, Loki pulled Eir away. He had just gotten another great idea. True it would help his Father and Asgard, but he would not get the credit. This fact did give him a momentary doubt about carrying out his idea, but he in the end went ahead with it. He hated to admit it, but there were times when he could be as implosive as his Brother. This trait however only ever really came into play when he had a plan thought out, that had at least five stages already figured out. It gave the impression of being implosive, but with the benefit of a backup plan.

Once they reached an empty corridor he pulled then into an alcove. Letting her hand go their enchantments ended. "Don't tell me you have another idea."

"Oh yes."

This time he did not take hold of her hand before he took off. Eir stood her ground. She did not move to follow him. If he wanted her to follow him then he would tell her what he was planning or at the very least ask her to follow. She was not his lackey she would not just run after him because he expected her to. Her resolve quickly feel away. Her curiosity got the better of her and with a dramatic sigh took off after him.

He ran right for the stables at the back of the palace. Where they had just found out the dwarfs horse was being held for now. Eir caught up to him as he stood at the open door. Looking at him she could see his mind working. His arms hung by his sides. She saw his fingers stretching out, a clear sign that he was about to use his magic.

"Loki….."

He didn't answer, just closed his eyes for a second then snapped them open. In a low voice he uttered some words and held his hands out in-front of himself. A green glow, the sign of his magic appeared in the centre of the stables. It started to take on a shape, the shape of a horse. A mare to be exact. When the mare moved for the first time, just a step forward, Loki let out an excited laugh.

"You just…."

"Yes, I just created a living, breathing creature." As he spoke he moved towards his creation.

She backed away a little at first, but then lowered her head and let him pat her. Eir followed soon after. It was the most beautiful horse she had ever seen. She found herself shacking a little. This kind of magic, she had read about in books, but she had never seen it performed before. Looking at Loki she could see that it did not come without a price. He looked tired, but so happy. It was a kind of look she had never seen from him before. The mare turned to move towards the stable door. Loki stepped in-front of her. He guided her towards the Dwarf's horse. The stallion moved forward to get closer to the mare. Loki then moved out of her way and let her run from the stables.

Eir now understood. When the stallion was next freed he would run off into the words surrounding the city to find the mare. It was a very brilliant idea, if it worked. There were a number of ways that it could go wrong. Thought she had a strong feeling that pushing his magic a little more was the real reason that he had done this.

"That was brilliant or stupid or both. I can't decide."

"I think more. Amazingly magnificent."

"Not that you're bragging or anything."

He laughed a little under his breath. Then for the first time that day Eir took of first. Running after the mare that had just bolted into the woods. It was not hard to keep track off, even with its head start, due to the damage that was left in its path. Being essentially a new baby, the mare was not very graceful. She was fast though. Once Eir reached a small clearing with a stream running through it she stopped running and waited for Loki to catch up with her. Which did not take very long. Almost as soon as she had stopped he was by her side.

"I guess we lost her." She sighed.

"Well you lost her. I was not chasing her. I was chasing you, and here you are." Loki gestured towards Eir with his arms.

"Must it always be a competition with you." Loki simply shrugged.

It was well known that the men and most of the women of Asgard were competitive. Eir herself did not find herself normally falling into this very unpleasant nature, she also more often than not found that Loki did not fall into a competitive nature either. When he did however he could be worse than any one she knew. Single mindedness to the point of recklessness at times, was a good way of descripting it.

Wanting to wipe the grin from his face, she reached out her right arm and took control of some of the water from the stream. Then sent it hurtling towards Loki. He of course saw it coming and lifted his arms. Taking in a deep breath as he did. Then he let it out, a mist left his mouth and was carried forward with the magic he channelled through his hands. When it made contact with water it froze it. The grin remained on his face as he took a step forward and gentle touched the ice that now hung a few feet from the ground, with just one finger. That was all it took and the ice shattered and fell.

"That was a nice trike."

"Trike."

The grin now slipped into a smile. Eir did not like that. Again lifting her arms she pulled the ice that had now started to melt up into the air again and sent it towards Loki. This time he over took her magical control of the water and sent it back towards her. She did not see it coming towards her right side. No shield went up, she made no move to block or take back control of the water. Her attention must have been somewhere else, maybe she caught sight of the magical mare he did not know. All that he did know was that very soon she was about to be hit with a large amount of water traveling at a fast pace.

"Eir!"

She finally turned, but it was too late. The water hit her with more force than he ever expected. It was strong enough to force her back into the stream. The sound of her hitting the water echoed throughout the clearing and kept running in his ears long after it ended. Not waiting for a second he ran over to the stream to help her. When he reached the edge he didn't see her. There was no sign of her anywhere. Again not thinking or wasting any time he jumped into the stream.

He must have come up for air, then dived back down again at least five times, without seeing any sign of her. He was growing more frantic in his action, making more noise, calling her name louder as he came up for air each time. Then the six time he resurfaced he heard a faint laugh. Darting his eyes around the clearing he saw Eir a little reluctantly step out from behind a tree on the edge of the clearing.

"Eir."

"I never really thought that you would fall for your own trike."

He looked angrier than she had expected, but there was also a small hint of pride in his eyes that she did not miss. With as much dignity as he could muster, which was more than she would have expected was possible, given that he was pulling himself fully dressed out of a stream.

"I'm impressed."

Eir smiled and folded her arms over her chest and closed her head as she nodded her head. When she opened them again Loki was moving towards her with that glint on his eyes. That glint that meant he was up to something. That he wanted revenge.

"No, no, no, no." She repeated over again as she stepped backwards. She didn't take her eyes off of him, she did not trust him to let him out of her sight for another second. When he was only about a foot or two away from her, she was made to turn to a little to look behind her, to make sure she could turn fully and run if she had to. That was all it took that small second like before. Moving quickly forward he ducked his head a little and wrapped his arms around her waist. She struggled a little, but he was stronger. Her repeating of no over and over again became interrupted by her laughed. He spun her round twice. Making her lose some focus. When she did focus again she saw that he saw carrying her towards the stream.

"Loki, don't you dare." She knew that was the wrong thing to saw the second it left her lips. It was just going to encourage him.

Now that she was practically being hung over the stream, she started to struggle more. Loki was trying to hold back a laugh now. He for all of his mischief he was not malicious. He was not really going to drop her into the stream. Maybe somebody else but not her. He just enjoyed getting one over her, as she was normally the one person as well as his Mother that could see through his lies and trikes. In all of her struggling she kicked the Princes in the leg, just above his knee. Which caused his legs to involuntary buckle a little. This couples with the added weight he was carrying, even though it was not much, cause his to stumble and fall to his knees.

The pain of his knees hitting the ground shot up his leg. This sudden pain forced him to let go of Eir, who feel backwards knocking Loki onto his back. She landed with her upper body next to his right side, but her legs lay slightly over his. Turning slowly as her back now hurt, over so she was being held up by her elbows she look at Loki.

"Truce."

He nodded in agreement and lifted his right hand to shack her. He made no move to sit up. Instead he continued to lay on his back and look up at the sky after he let her hand go. "I truly am impressed."

"I have sent too much time with you. I have learned some of your tricks." Once again he nodded, but kept looking up at the clear blue sky. "So how does it feel to be on the receiving end."

Something in her tone, a slight bitterness caused him to finally take his eyes from the sky and turn to look at her. "You were teaching me a lesson." She didn't answer his question, but she slowly pulled herself to sit on her knees. "This is about the spare with Fandral. That was months ago." Still she did not answer or say a word. "You were that worried about me."

There was a surprised tone to his voice that she did not like. "Of course I was." She now moved to stand up.

Loki quickly jumped to his feet too, and took hold of her shoulders to stop her from walking away. "I'm sorry."

He looked right into her eyes, and she knew that he meant it. She wanted to stay mad at him, to come up with a witty comeback, buts she couldn't. All she could do was sigh a little and take a step forward and wrap her arms around him. "I forgive you." After she spoke she pulled back a little. "But if you ever do that again…"

"You will use your considerable knowledge to cause me great harm."

"Right."

"Don't you scare me like that again either."

"Or you will use your considerable knowledge to cause me great harm."

"Right."

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It did not take them long to walk back to the city. The lights were just starting to be lit for the night. She was late, very late her Father was going to want an explanation. The problem was that she did not have a good one, at least not one that he was going to like, and take without any more questions. As quickly as she could she pushed the front door open. The house was dark inside. No lights had yet been lit. Maybe he was not back yet. Maybe he was held up at the training ground. Looking around the main room of the house she caught sight of herself in the mirror that hung at the bottom of the stairs. She was a mess. Her hair had come loss from its braid and her dress was damp and muddy. If she moved quickly she might just have enough time to change before he returned. Focusing her magic onto the candles that hung on the walls she brought them to life.

In the new light she caught sight of her Fathers back sitting at the kitchen table just in-front of her. He slowly turned around. He didn't look angry, more shocked by her appearance. "What happened to you."

He mind worked quickly. "Just practice. We were working with controlling water. I got damp and then on my way back, I tripped. I was late and running." She looked at him with large dark eyes, faking slight embarrassment. "I'll change them make dinner."

She only made it one step before he spoke. "That can wait a minute. I have something for you." He did not look angry or shocked anymore. In-fact he looked happy and a little excited. She had never seen him like this before.

Despite to know what had him so excited, she quickly moved into the kitchen. He had turned away from her as she walked towards him. He was looking at the kitchen table. As she entered the room she found that there was a long narrow, slightly small wooden box on the table. She now stood next to her Father, looking up at him, he smiled at her and she turned her attention back to the box on the table. Slowly she reached out to open it.

The inside of the box was coated in a deep red velvet. The hallmark of packages for goods made in Alfheim. In the centre of the box was a short sword about a foot in length including the hilt. The blade was shinny and new, it had never been used before. The hilt had a detailed silver patter engraved around the edged, but the main part was a very dark blue colour. So dark that only in direct light could you see the faint hint of blue. Her hands shock a light as she reached out to take it in her hands.

It was a beautify crafted weapon and she had no doubt equally deadly. The problem, the thing that made her hesitant to take it in her hands was the type of weapon it was. She was no good with close rang weapons like this. She greatly appreciated the gesture a great deal, but she knew that she would not be able to use the weapon to the best of its ability.

Her eyes were locked on the sword in her hands, that she did not notice her Father's hands reaching over and covering hers. In one quick motion he pressed a bottom on the hilt that she had not noticed before. The hilt on the sword suddenly shot out, growing in length to about just over five feet, six in total including the blade. Now she smiled. This could be her weapon, she could make this work. Her Father did understand her.

"The blade can also be retracted." He pushed another button, and the blade did retract. Leaving her hold a five foot staff made of strong but light weight metal.

A wide smile crossed her face just before she turned to wrap her arms around her Father, while still holding her new weapon in her hands. "Thank you. It is amazing."

He smiled too, hugging her back. "I am glad you like it little one. It will serve you well." He gently pulled apart. "I have spoken with the All-Father, you and your Cousin Sif, when you are old enough will train to be Valkyrie."

Eir froze. This was not what she had planned, this was not what she wanted. She was not sure what she wanted, what her future maybe. She just knew that this was not it. "Father…."

"Hush little one. You are still young, very young. There is much time."

He did not say, time for what. Time to learn to use her new weapon proficiently, for him to change his mind. She did not know. She did know that as eternal at they were they did not have all the time in the world. There was not as much time as her Father seemed to think. There was never enough time, no matter how long you had, thousands of years, it was never enough. Not for anyone.

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**As before I would still really love to hear from you with any feedback that you may have. I don't want to sound rude or desperate, but it does take a lot of time to plan out and write up a chapter. I do enjoy doing it, but I do need help with it. I have an idea of where I want this to go, but I really need input. To know what you think, what works and what doesn't. So again I ask if you could please spare a few minutes to offer some feedback on the story. Things you would maybe like to see in the story. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you are enjoying the story. I think I have a better understanding of where this story is going now, at least for the next group of chapters. Which makes it a little essayer. I also wanted to say that I plan to up-date this story at least every two weeks. If there is a lot of feedback to one chapter then I will more likely up-date sooner, but either way I will do my very best to up-date at least every two weeks. This is also in part due to the fact that I am also writing another story right now as well. So the way I plan to do it is I will work on each story for a week, then work on the other the week after. I felt I should say this as I know that is can be annoying reading a story and not knowing when it will be up-dated. **

**LegendaryLore. Thank you very much. You do not know how nice it is to read your comments about the story, about a character I made up. Thank you again. I hope that you will like the development that I have planned for all the characters and their relationships. **

**Jazzers444. Thank you, glad that you liked it.**

* * *

Eir sat on the large window seat in the far corner of the library. Her back leaned against the wall, her legs stretched out in-front of her were still a good few inches for the other end of the window. Her left side was pressed a little against the cool glass of the tall window, because she was not the only person sitting on the window seat. On the opposite side, with his legs digging a little into her hip sat the second Prince of Asgard. This was a very familiar position for them, sharing the window seat in the quietest part of the library. Eir sat next to the window, Loki's legs trapping her, because he after a few hours of sitting and reading would need to move. This need did not stop him from reading, he would become lost in whatever he was reading. He would move his right leg onto the floor. She thought this sitting arrangement was due to him always thinking, his mind was always moving. Therefore he needed to be able to move the rest of his body in the blink of an eye to catch up with his racing mind. It was this duality that she knew not many people saw in him. They saw the calm, collected and detached outer self he showed them. They did not see underneath that, didn't see the constant action that was going on.

In her hands she held up a book about the human body. She had read recently a book that the Midgardians had just written about anatomy, it made her laugh. She knew they were progressing, but it still made her laugh to think now far behind they were and how wrong they had something's. She was now trying to memories all bones in the hand. She had only been at this task for a few hours and was progressing well, but now the words started to blend into one another. It seemed that she was reading the same word over and over again and not getting anywhere. Letting out a frustrated sigh she was about to try one last time, or give up, before she had the chance to read another word, the book in her hands was covered in a green glow. She again let out a sigh.

The book was replaced by one from Midgard, the Canterbury tales. It was open to the place that she had left it the last time. Lifting her eyes from the new book in-front of her she peered over the top at Loki he looked fully occupied in his book. Judging from the writing on the cover it was written in dwarfish. Since the victory over the dwarf builder a few months ago he had taken an interest in dwarfish culture.

"Yes." He said in a low voice, while still not looking up from his book.

"I was reading that."

"No you weren't."

"Yes I was."

"You were trying to. You were getting little creases between your eyebrows. You were looking at it, not really reading it. I was doing you a favour."

There was no point in arguing with him further. He believed that he was in the right, and in a way he was. She still did not like that he just made a choice for her without asking her. He thought he knew best and did what he wanted. She had had enough of that recently. Words were not going to work, she pulled her legs into her chest and the stretched them out again, this time placing them over Loki's. They had been sitting for about three hours or so, he was going to need to move soon. A slight grin crossed her face as she started to read her new book.

Looking over the top of her book she watched a confused look cross Loki's face for a second. Never one to be out done, he lowered the book in his hands to rest against her leg. He was about to let go of the book, letting it rest fully against her leg, when they heard loud footsteps walking towards them. The library was the quietest place in the city. Which at times was not saying much. Even with that it was clear to both of them who it was that was making their way towards them. Not seeing any point in stopping what they were doing until they had to, they kept ready. Loki did let go of the book with his left hand, which he crossed over his chest.

Thor did not stop his purposeful stride till he was standing in-front of the window seat his Brother and the Lady Eir had made their own over the last few years. His words died on his tough as he saw the way they were sitting. He knew they were close, but he had thought it was the same kind of friendship that he had with Sif. Then again they were different people form himself and Sif. After the primary shock wore off, he noticed the mud that covered Eir's boots.

"Do I want to know." He asked breaking the silence.

"Absolutely not." Loki answered without looking up from his book. Eir silently nodded in agreement.

Deciding that they were probably right, that he did not want to know, not if they were so sure that he didn't. Thor was about to tell them why he had sought them out, when Loki removed his hand from the book and finally turned to face his Brother for the first time.

"To what do we owe the pleasure. I didn't know you knew that there even was a library in the palace. Yet alone how to find your way around it."

Thor would normally brush this off, or get angry with this smart mouthed little Brother, this however was one of the rare times when he had a comeback. "That would normally be so, if you had not left a trail in your wake." He gestured with his head to the muddy footprints that led right up to the window seat.

Eir who had been following the conversation while still reading, now looked up. Seeing the mud on the floor she realised that Loki's muddy boots were currently press against her leg. With an iterated groan she swung her leg around, till she was sitting with her back against the window and her legs hanging over the side, trapping Loki's underneath them at the ankles.

Huffing a little Loki spoke. "What do you want Thor."

Both Eir and Thor smiled a little at the defeated Loki. "I merely wanted to see if you wished to join me in a most dangerous and exciting adventure." Eir now stopped smiling and rolled her eyes. This could not end well.

"No."

While it did not work in the same way as he knew it did with himself, Thor knew that his Brother could be persuaded with the use of flattery. "But Loki, I need your skill. I could not do it without your magic." Loki shock his head, clearly not falling for it. "How is your magic progressing."

"It is very advanced." He answered without really thinking.

Eir could see him mentally kicking himself as he tried to move his legs from under hers so he could turn and face Thor. He knew that he had to speak quickly as Thor was clearly going to jump on his slip and use it to his advantage.

"Thor….."

"So you can come."

"I lied." Loki quickly spoke.

Thor laughed. "Only you Brother would lie about lying."

Eir now laughed fully. "He is right. One of the few times you tell the truth, you say it is a lie."

Loki now that he felt a little ganged up on, was more eager than ever to bring this conversation to an end. Also to free his legs from under Eir's. She however seemed just as eager to keep him in place to prolong his harassment. She was small and light, but she was putting all of her strength that she could in to trapping his legs.

"Why are you asking us any way. Surly there must be others that would be a better choice."

"Better than two skilled magical users."

"Sorcerer and Sorceress…..are the correct terms." Eir said in a matter of fact voice.

Loki looked at her, she was clearly trying to show that while she made fun of him, she was on his side. He had time to get back at her latter, right now he needed her on his side if they were going to talk Thor out of whatever idiotic idea he had come up with.

"Better than Fandral and Sif."

The silence that followed his words caused Loki a momentary feeling of guilt. It was only for a moment, Thor was not the only one that was going to be losing a close friend soon. Said close friend who was currently trapping him in place, gave a sharp nudge to his leg. Before he could say anything, to apologise as Eir clearly felt he should Thor answered his question.

"Sif is training and Fandral has not yet recovered from his injuries from training last week."

It was hard for the two sitting figures not to laugh at the memory of that training last week where Sif bested Fandral and injured not just his pride but something just as delicate. Eir felt Loki turning to her, most likely about to make a comment about how she should have offered to help heal him, as she had an interest and talent it seemed for healing magic. Not wanting to be pulled into the banter she once again nudged his leg, this time harder.

"So what do you want our help with." Loki spoke to Thor while glaring at Eir.

Thor beamed, his shinning white teeth as bright as his bright blue eyes. "We are going to find the Hero's sword."

It was a great struggle for Loki not to laugh out loud. Eir could feel his legs shacking under hers form the effort of holding it in. she had to give him credit for that. Seeing that he was not going to be able to speak in a clear voice for a while she spoke, asking the question she knew that he was going to ask. "The Hero's sword."

Thor was still smiling widely. "Yes."

"The sword that has not been seen in hundreds of years. The same sword that no one knows where it is currently is. The same sword that no one knows if it even insist." Loki spoke with no trace of the laughter the he had just been holding back.

"Yes."

It was now Eir that found herself trying to hold back a laugh. They could be so funny when they got like this. Thor being to enthusiastic about something to the point of idiocy, and Loki logical to the point of becoming more and more frustrated with Thor. In their own ways they were as bad as each other. Rather than shacking due to held back laughter, she could feel Loki's legs shacking due to held back frustration. She loathed to get in-between them when they got like this, for her own safety and wellbeing. Now she was starting to worry about Thor's safety and wellbeing so she spoke up.

"And you know where to find it then."

"Yes." The two sitting gods gave the elder a wide eyed look, telling him to say more. More than the one word that he had suddenly become so found of. "Niffleheim."

"Niffleheim." Loki repeated louder and clearly with some shock.

"You can't be serious." Eir added. Niffleheim was a cold place, consisting of main high mountains. It was not the kind of place that one simply went to. Not unless they had a good reason for doing so.

Thor now having their attention and their curiosity, a trait they both shared, went on. "I am. I overheard Father talking. He has one of the ruins. He was hiding it away and he mentioned where the sword was."

"You overheard. Are you sure you weren't eavesdropping." Loki pressed.

Thor now looked a little frustrated. "That is not the point. We know where the sword is, we have to go and retrieve it."

"Why." Eir innocently asked. While she knew of the history of the Hero's sword, she did not know why it was so important that they, mainly Thor found it. From the corner of her eye she saw Loki roll his eyes and lean further back against the wall.

"It has been lost for years. No one knew where it was, now they do, but no one can brave the journey to retrieve it. We can."

"Again why."

"What better weapon for a Prince of Asgard." Thor proudly answered.

Suddenly Loki forcefully freed his legs from under Eir and stood up. His eyes locking of Thor's. There was the smallest of differences between the two in height, but you had to really look for it. Eir guessed that Thor noticed it, and that it did not palace him that his younger Brother was a mere inch taller than him. That she also guessed must be in part, even if he didn't know it, part of the reason he wanted to do this.

"So that is what this is about." There was humour in his voice, but a malice underneath it. "You want to prove that you are the might Thor, a great a warrior."

"I don't have to prove anything."

"Then why are you." Loki stepped forward, slowly circling his brother. Trying to make the most of the extra inch he had over him. "You're coming of age is near is it not. You will be a man in the eyes of the realm, and you want to have a big shinning weapon of your own before that don't you."

Eir leaned forward slightly her hands griping the edge of the window seat. She did not like it when Loki got like this. He was like a predator circling and teasing his pray. It was the part of his intelligence and perceptiveness that she did not like. He had never turned that harsh stare and keen eye on her, at least not in this way. For that she was grateful. Thor seemed to be holding up well under this scrutiny. He must be used to it.

"It will not just be me. It will be us, Brothers. Together we can do it and share in the glory."

"And punishment." Loki stooped moving and crossed his arms over his chest.

Thor let out a faint laugh and wrapped his arm around Loki's shoulders. "Then the punishment will be halved, as we shall share it."

Eir smiled a little, not minding that they seemed to have forgotten her, after Thor making such a point of needing both of them to accompany him on his quest. It was clear that if Thor had not found her with Loki then he would have not asked for her to join them. He did however have the politeness to include her once her presence was known to him. She was starting to realise what the real reason for this all was. It was to spend time doing something of real worth with his friends and Brother, before one left him. Upon finding out that she could not join him, it became an adventure he could share with his Brother. Over the time that she had known them, she had noticed them spending less and less time together. They clearly cared for and respected each other, but life was pulling them in different directions. Away from each other.

She must have been lost in her own thoughts, because when she looked back at them they were standing side by side looking down at her. "So, Lady Eir. Will you accompany us on our adventure." Thor asked.

There was really no way that she could say no to two Princes. So she took in a deep breath and resigned herself to whatever was going to come from all of this. "Of course." Using her hands that still held the edge of the window seat she pushed herself to her feet. "Though I can't go like this." She gestured to her long dress that skimmed the floor.

Loki nodded and step back from Thor. "You should return home and change, you will need your weapon as-well." He stressed this point. He knew that she would not take her gift from her Father if he did not make a point of it. For the last few months since she had been given it he had helped her train with it. She was getting better, but the whole idea of a weapon that she didn't throw away form herself was still a little uncomfortable for her. "We'll meet you in about half an hour at your house." She nodded and left.

Loki turned his attention back to his Brother. "I hope that you plan is not going to get us all killed."

Thor smiled and let out a faint laugh and slapped his Brother on the back. "Who says I have a plan."

* * *

Once changed and having attached her staff in it small sword form to the best she wore, Eir left her house. Silently grateful that her Father was at work. Sitting on the garden fence of the house directly across from her was Thor. He too now had this weapon with him, a sword about twice the size of hers. She was about to ask where Loki was, when he asked her a question first.

"Do I really not want to know what you and Loki were doing this morning."

While he spoke he was looking at her boots that were now worn over a pair of trousers that were in turn worn under a dark blue tunic that came to her knees. She knew she should have changed them, they were not the most durable boots she had, but they were the most comfortable and that was she guessed more important right now.

"Yes." She answered simply as she moved to sit on the fence next to him.

He smiled, he knew part of her quick answer was a dig at him. "You and Loki were out in the woods looking for something to do with magical things…or some such thing."

"Something like that."

It was not really a lie, it was just only part of the truth. They had been out in the woods form just after sun rise looking for something magic related in the woods. The Mare that Loki had created with his magic to lure away the dwarf's horse. Since the day that it was crated and run off into the woods they had not seen it, but Loki was sure that it was still alive. He could not say how much magic he had used to create the horse, so he could not be sure how long she would be around. So time could be a very large factor in them ever being able to find the Mare. They had been organised about finding it. The woods were large and stretched for days in any directions, so they had split it in quadrants, twenty-four in total. Early each morning when they did not have lessens, and no one would notice, they would search a quadrant. That morning they had searched quadrant sixteen and found nothing.

Thor nodded at her answer. "Okay, I don't want to know. I trust you."

Eir burst out laughing. "Then you are a fool."

"I said that I trust you, I didn't not say the same of my Brother."

She laughed a little, but felt uncomfortable about the truth beneath the statement. She did not like the implication that she was meant in some way to keep Loki in line. For two main reason, she did not feel that he needed to be kept in line and even if he did she was not the person to do so. She agreed with him too much. Agreed that knowledge and advancement were more important that tradition and stableness.

Thor seemed to notice the change to her demeanour at his last statement and realised that he had to make himself clearer. He was not as good with words as his Brother after all. "I trust Loki. There is no one that I would rather have by my side going into battle."

"I hope that you do not plan for us to go into battle this day." Loki voice called to them. "I don't think I have enough throwing knives for that."

Thor pushed himself off the fence. "Did you do it."

"Yes. A suitable distraction has been made, and Mother thinks we have gone on a hunting trip. She was very pleased to hear that we were spending time together…..not fighting. If only she knew."

"Don't tell me you now feel uncomfortable with a little white lie."

"This is not a little white lie, like, yes Thor you won that race." Thor was about to protest but was cut off. "This is a large dark lie. Like, yes Thor you could beat…."

"I get your point." Thor putted in.

Loki nodded. "Good. Now tell me you have a plan for how we get to Niffleheim."

"I'm working on it."

Eir now slid off the fence. "Could you work on it a little faster. I don't think we have much time to get there find the sword and return before someone notices we have gone." She did not want to go, she did not like the idea at all. There was just so much that could go wrong, but if she had to, she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Thor was silent and unmoving for a few seconds. Clearly thinking of a plan. Eir began to worry, any plan that he came up with in a few seconds could not be a good one. While he showed his emotions more clearly than Loki on his face, Eir did not know him well enough to know what he was thinking now. Loki did not seem to have that problem. Something in Thor's look clearly worried him, as he called his name softy and took a step forwards. Like he was trying to approach a wide animal that could bolt away at any minute at any sudden movement. It was almost a surprise that he didn't scream out in victory when he finally thought of something. Instead he smiled and nodded his head a little, before turning and running off. Loki watched his brother take off, then turned briefly to Eir. With a shrug they ran after him.

Leaning forward and bowing down so that they would not be seen, they followed Thor as he made his way to the docks. It did not take a great intelligence to know what his plan was. From their hiding place behind a stack of crates he spotted a fairly large ship, easily large enough for all three of them. In fact it could carry three times their number easily. Two men stood on the deck, one paying the other begrudgingly with money from a small and now empty money pouch. Thor watched them leave the ship and make their way to the nearby tavern.

Before he could run on board, Loki took hold of his arm. "Brilliant idea Thor. Sneak away on a large ship that will certainly get us noticed."

Thor pulled his arm free and looked over the dock again. At the very far end, to the right was a much smaller ship. It could hold them, but probably not any more. Loki followed his line of sight and gave an unnoticed nod. Thor moved first running for the ship. Loki caught up with him matching his pace, with Eir a little behind. The ship had no gangway, so it was a slight leap to get on board.

Thor leaped first, landing comfortably. Making the jump a little less easily Loki followed. Eir sighed a little as she sped up to make the jump. While one foot landed on the deck, the other missed it by a fraction of an inch. Loki had missed no time in untying the ship from the rope that held it to the dock. As the ship slowly moved forward Eir quickly moved to fall form it.

She barely had a chance to let out a scream or any sound before a strong hand grabbed hold of her arm. With her one leg still on the ship bent at the knees the rest of her body swung on to the deck too. Finding herself sitting on the deck she looked up at Thor who still held her arm. Before she could thank him, he pulled her to her feet.

"You should watch were you place your feet."

With a mock laugh she shook her head and walked over to Loki, who now seeing that she was safe was making his way to the ship's wheel. It would not be long now before they were spotted. Taking control of the ship Loki directed it in the general direction of Niffleheim. Moving to the starboard side Eir focused her attention onto the water. Pushing it away from her, the speed of the ship increased. Glancing up she caught sight of the drop, where the ship would take flight.

Thor moved to take the wheel for Loki, who took up a place on the port side, and focused his magic in the same way Eir was. The ship speed up for its final few moments on the water. For the last foot or so the ship only lightly skimmed the water's surface. There was an audible intake of breath form all three of them as the ship sailed forward, leaving the water and taking to the air. Thor's triumphant and excited yell was echoed a second later by his Brother. Eir smiled and dared a glance behind her. There was no going back now.

* * *

**I hope that you liked the story, now that things are starting to happen. I will be honest, I really not have much of an idea of where the next chapter, the second part of this adventure is going. I am clearly basing it a little on the tales of Asgard movie, but I don't want to copy that. So if you have any ideas then I would love to hear them. I felt that I should add a part like this to show them having adventures outside of Asgard a little when they were younger. As always I would love to hear what you think. All feed-back and comments are very welcome, good or bad. It is important for me to get better to know what I do well, and things that I need to work on. See you it two weeks at the most. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you are enjoying the story. Unlike previous chapters this one is going to continue on directly form the last one. I feel I should make something clear. I hope this doesn't seem patronising, but I just don't know if I explained it well. Niffleheim is an area in the realm of Asgard. That is why they don't have to go to the rainbow bridge to get there. As there has been no feedback for the last chapter, I will just get on with it. I hope the action is okay, I am not very good at writing it.**

* * *

Once at a steady height, just a little below the lower hanging clouds, so they could easily hid if they were spotted, Thor took out his map and directed Loki to turn east. As they settled on their new course no one said anything. Eir glanced at Loki, his lips where clenched in a straight line. He was clearing holding something back. A number of questions about what exactly Thor had planned now, most likely. Looking over at Thor, who stood proudly at the bow of the boat, his map held out in-front of him. The tension in his hands let her know that he was waiting for Loki to begin his barrage of questions. Eir sat on the beam of the starboard side and silently waited for the most likely heated discussion to begin.

"Am I meant to keep heading…"

"Yes. I'll tell you when to change course."

She counted down in her head. She guessed it would be about three or four seconds before Loki said something back.

"If it is not too much trouble that would be most helpful."

Lowering the map Thor turned to face his bother. "Would you rather navigate, because I seem to remember the last time you tried to direct us, we ended up lost…."

"That was over two hundred years ago. When are you going to let it go."

"Never." Putting the map away he walked over to stand next to his Brother. "Just as you never let me forget when my pride gets the better of me and causes me embarrassment." With his now free hands he wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulder. "Besides, it lets me now that we are Brother. Both having too much pride for our own good."

It was not like Thor to be as open about any feelings that were not pride, anger or happiness. It was also not like him to be this perceptive about the nature of people. Both more perceptive and quitter young Asgardians were shocked and a little impressed. If there was any doubt that Thor had come up with this ridicules quest as a ploy to speed time with his friends, this pushed them aside. She would have left this nice brotherly moment alone, stayed quit, if not for the fact that she was starting to see the outline of very tall mountains in the distance. Mountains that they could very easily crash into if they did not have a path to get through them.

"Maybe you could use your combined pride, to get us through those mountains that we are headed straight for, at a very high speed."

She stood up and pointed to the mountains as she spoke. While trying her very best to keep the slight fear from creeping into her voice. They may be used to this kind of thing, sneaking of and heading straight into danger, but she was not. Sneaking off into the forest, was one thing, this was something different. So was visiting Alfheim and recently Vanaheimr thanks to Loki's pathways through realms. He still kept their location hidden from her, but they made more trips to the realms of her Mother's birth.

Thor removed his arm from around his brother's shoulder and moved to the bow of the boat to best give directions. As he passed Eir he placed his steady hands on her shoulders. "There is no need to fear. My Brother and I have everything under control. You are safe as long as you are with us."

"That is a pretty lie Brother, but she can see through far better." Thor turned to glance at Loki. "We would be safer if you kindly direct me on the best course. Now!"

A little quicker than he needed to, Thor removed his hands from Eir's shoulders and moved to the bow. Once he stopped trying to act like the great hero's he had been told stories of, and acted on his own instincts, then he was not half bad at this whole brave hero thing. Loki offered a slight sympathetic look to Eir. Who in turn sneered a little at him, not wanting his pity and tilted her head in the direction that the Prince should be looking at.

For what felt little hours they carefully made their way through the mountains. The mountains that almost fully bordered the northern part of the city. They were numerous in number, but they were not as tall as the mountains of Niffleheim. The mountains that they were headed for. Silence had once again fallen over the boat as Thor carefully read the map, Loki steered and Eir kept a keen eye on the sky below them for any passing boats that may spot them. These mountains were used for material need in the city, so there was a good chance they would pass by another boat, hence why they sailed at a higher height.

She almost began to think that they were going to be lucky. That no other boat was going to be crossing their path. They were so close to the end of the mountain range, so close to being free form being seen. So close and yet so far.

"Oh honesty." Eir irritatedly moaned under her breath.

Loki, who was very familiar with Eir's exasperated remarks, being the cause of many of them, heard her and turned in her direction. "I take it we have company."

"Unfortunately, yes."

Thor tore is eyes of the map and looked at his companions. "Take her up."

"Do you really need to tell me that." Loki complained.

"Apparently yes. Because we are still not going up!" He tried to keep it out of his voice, but it was clear that Thor was panicking a little.

While Loki raised the boat as quickly as he could and Thor moved to stand by him, urging him to move faster, Eir lifted her arms and focused on the clouds that settled a few feet above them. Moving her arms down towards her she pulled the clouds down to meet them as they rose higher. Allowing them to be hidden form sight sooner. Once they were safely hidden there was a collective letting out of a deep breath.

"That was a little too close for comfort." Thor tried to sound as flippant as he could.

"That is an understatement." Loki sneered a like as she pulled the boat to a steady level.

Eir sighed and sat back down. "How much longer.

"Not long." Thor answered. "Would you like me to take the wheel, now we are hidden."

Loki nodded and moved aside to allow Thor to take the wheel. Moving over to Eir he patted her on the back. "Quick thinking." He them moved to the other side of the boat and looked over the edge. "At this speed we should reach Niffleheim soon."

Soon was just less than an hour. A little after that they realised that they had reached the mountains of Niffleheim. This fact was made very clear to them, painfully clear as they almost sailed right into the side of a mountain. Thor had had pull sharply to port so they missed it. They did scrap the side of the mountain, but luckily they were sailing of air not water.

"If it is not too much trouble, could you please let me now when a mountain is about to cross our path. That would be greatly appreciated little Brother." Thor bated.

"I know that you only have one brain cell in that head of yours, but I know that you have two eyes in your head." Loki could not help up rise to it.

"Children, children. If you wouldn't mind focusing on the task at hand. So we don't crash that would be wonderful." Eir spoke in her most stern tone as she moved over to join the Prince's at the wheel.

Loki still had the map half open in his hand, which he now studied. It was hard to tell where exactly in Niffleheim they currently where. All of the mountains looked the same as they sailed past them. Two pairs of eyes turned to Thor. It took him a while to notice the stares. He turned to them, with a look of what do you want on his face.

"Our next move would be…" Loki began, guiding Thor to carry on.

"We find the tallest peak."

"And we do that…"

This time Thor did not follow on from his Brother's lead. Instead he showed them. Pulling back sharply on the wheel he forced the boat into a steep rise. Eir lost her footing a little and took hold of the edge of the boat to steady herself. Thor had quick reflexes and strength to turn the boat sharply, but he was not as skilled at maintaining a stredy altitude. Loki who had been able to keep his footing during the steep incline, was knocked over by the awkward steadying of the boast as they reached the top of the clouds.

The boat now sailed on top of the clouds. The air was thin and cold, but that was almost unnoticed by the three in the boat as they looked around at the wide open space they found themselves in. It went on for miles in every direction. The horizon circled them, and seemed so far away. Even though they were moving towards it in one direction, they would never reach it. The space was lit with a warm orange glow. That made them further forget about the cold. The peaks of the taller mountains could be seen peaking up from the clouds. It was beautiful, majestic. For three people that had already lived much longer than anyone on earth would ever dream off, had seen so much change, the sight before them left them speechless.

Not wanting to break the silence, shatter the beauty of the setting, by speaking, Loki nudged his Brother on the arm. Once he had his attention he gestured with his head to his right. Where by far the tallest peak was visible. Thor was about to speak, when he caught sight of Eir. She had moved to the bow of the boat and was holding on to the edge, as she leaned as far forward as she could. Trying to see as much as she could. Her eyes were moving from side to side so quick it was hard to clearly see them, but when he did Thor say how wide they were. He had forgotten that not everyone was as familiar with travel and these kinds of sights as he was. He found it beautiful, but he during his travels to other realms had seen equally beautiful sights. This was all rather new to her. Turning back to his Brother he nodded and steered the boat towards the peak.

As they sailed closer, Thor pulled the boat into a steady decline. Eir moved back from the bow. "I think we may be going in too fast and close."

"Relax. It will be fine." Thor stated.

"Another pretty lie." Eir muttered.

Eir was not overly convinced, but took Loki's silence on the subject as further reassurance, so she did not push the subject. Once again they where surrounded by clouds. For some reason, most likely now being so close to their destination, Thor choice now to speed up. Now that he was almost practically blind beyond a few feet in-front of him. No one had a chance to voice their concerns over this, as out of the clouds in-front of them the mountain became visible. Thor tried to turn the wheel, anyway but forward, but it was too late.

The bow of the boat hit the side of the mountain, but it did not break, not fully. The boat was made of strong meatal it only bent and crumpled. Shock waves rippled through out the boast. Thor tightened his hold on the wheel to keep himself standing, as the boat began to drop. Next to him he saw Loki about to fall and begin to slide along the deck of the boat. Letting go of the wheel with his right hand Thor reached out and was able to grab hold of his Brother's arm. Looking around them quickly, neither saw Eir anywhere. Loki called her name but did not hear a reply.

Thor, with some help from Loki helped to pull him up to the wheel. Once they both hand a hold on the wheel, they were able to look around and asses their current situation. They were not given more than a few seconds to do this when they felt the boat start to tilt back ward. Quickly they pulled themselves up. It was now clear that the boat had luckily hit the mountain and fallen down a feel feet till it landed on a ledge. The boat now quickly began to slide off the ledge. Equal as quickly Thor and Loki run up the tilted deck toward the bow of the boat.

A sharp pain shot up her right arm and along her shoulder as Eir pulled herself up. The snow had not softened her fall in the least. Most likely she had broken her arm, at worst, judging from the pain being centred in her shoulder she had dislocated her arm. A frustrated groan left her lips as she prepared to use her magic to heal it. It was the first time she had had to ever use healing magic on herself, she didn't know how well it would work. It should heal it enough to lessen the pain, then she can focus on what was really important, finding Loki and Thor. This thought process ran through her head in only a few seconds, but she did not have time to put any of it into action, as the ground under her began to shack.

At first she thought it was an avalanche, caused by the boat hitting the mountain. This thought was quickly dismissed as she saw the boat landing a few feet in-front of her. It balanced with its stern hanging over the ledge for a few seconds before it began to fall. Pulling herself to her feet all she could do was watch as she boast continued to slide away. They had to still be on the boast, they could not have been thrown from the boat as she was, they were not near the edge. Their names were about to leave her mouth, when she saw them. It was just their upper bodies, but they were there and running towards the bow. She couldn't feel any relief until they were safety off of the boat and on the ledge with her.

Thor reached the bow first, placing one foot on the rail he used that to spring off of the boat. He landed rather ungracefully on the snow. The second he landed he turned to look for Loki. There was only about a foot of the boat left that was still above the ledge. Loki veered right as he saw Thor aim for the tip of the bow. Like his Brother he used the railing to launch himself off of the boat. Unlike his Brother he was able to land on the snowy ledge with both his feet. He let out a sign of relief as he caught a glimpse of Eir walking towards him and his Brother who was pulling himself to his feet. They were all safe.

The second that breathe left his body a larger one was pulled from him, as the ground under him began to slip away. The boat knocked into the mountain sharply as she finally slide off of it. There was nothing for Loki to hold onto, his arm waved around trying to balance himself or trying to find some invisible thing that he could hold onto. Something that would stop him from falling backward of the mountain. The weight of the sword at his hip seemed like an anchor that was bent on pulling him down. It got its wish quickly as he fell, his body becoming turned upside down. Shutting his eyes he prepared himself for the impact that was sure to come. If he was able to think clearly he would think of the strong possibility that he would land on another ledge without too much damage. He was not thinking clearly so he was not able to think of that comforting thought.

A sharp tug pulled at his leg, sending pain running up his right leg to his brain, causing him to open his eyes. All around him was white and clear, but it was still. It was not moving past him at a rapid rate. It was not moving, therefore he was not moving. Not trusting his luck to hold, as it failed him before, Loki held his breath. After a few seconds, when he became more confident in his security, he tilted his head to look up. He almost wanted to laugh out loud. Holding onto his right leg, was a pair of strong arms. He could not make the rest of the person out, but there was no mystery to who it was.

"Thor, you fool." He laughed a little through his yells. "You are the biggest, kindest, fool I know." He sigh in a quitter voice.

As he felt himself being pulled up slowly he saw another hand being held down to him. It was a much small, delicate looking hand, but he knew it well and it gave him as much comfort. Knowing the person whose arm it was he trusted that they would most likely surprise him with how strong they were. He used all the muscles in his stomach to pull his upper body up enough to reach the offered hand. His finger brushed against her, but he pulled himself up again and this time he grabbed her hand. They then began to pull him up. Once his upper body reached the ledge, Thor let Loki's leg go and took hold of his shoulders, helping Eir pull him up.

When his little Brother was safely on the ledge his eyes meet his. It was clear from the look in those pale green eyes that he had a lot that he wanted to say to the older God, none of it he was sure going to be pleasant. "I know it seems bad." He offered as a way to appease the situation. He was not able to say more and Loki was not able to reply, as the sound of a large crash was heard echoing all around them. "I know it sounds bad."

Loki groaned under his breath as he pulled himself to his feet. Everyone now on their feet took a few steps away from the edge, having had quit enough misfortune for the moment. They needed a few minutes to gather themselves and plan their next move. Loki quickly turned his eyes back to his Brother, giving him that look again. "If it seems bad and sounds bad, then what is the good news." Thor was about to answer, but Loki stopped him. "If you say that we are close to the sword."

He did not have to finish his threat. Thor knew what he was implying. If he did not choose his next words carefully, they could very likely be his last. As he would soon join their boat over the side of the mountain. Offering a small smile he took a step towards them. "We are alive and unhurt." As he spoke he placed a comforting hand on their shoulders.

A groan of pain left Eir's mouth before she could stop herself. "Unhurt." Loki hissed as he turned to fully face Eir.

"Are you alright." Thor asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I think I may have dislocated my shoulder." There was almost an audible sigh of relief from both Prince's. A dislocated shoulder was nothing. They had both suffered the same injury at some point. Eir placed her left hand on her injured right shoulder. A faint dark blue glow appeared. After a few second she took it away. Her hand was shacking a little. "It's not working." There was a fear in her voice that neither boy had heard before.

Loki was the first to recover from his shock. "You are just in shock and you used a lot of magic earlier." He offered gently. She wanted that to be true, so she choice to believe him, it was a pretty lie. He placed his hands on her right shoulder. The familiar green glow of his magic appeared, and she could feel his magic knitting together her injured muscles and pulling her bones back in place. Once he took his hands away she rolled her shoulder and felt no pain. She smiled in thanks and then they turned back to Thor for their next move.

"We should start heading down." There was not a word in protest.

Slowly and very carefully they began their descent of the mountain. Every few feet they would come across a ledge that they would walk along for as long as they could until they were forced to climb down further. They carried on in this way for about half an hour till they came to the largest ledge they had so far encountered. Thor led the way and Loki took up the rear. Eir glanced behind her, to make sure that Loki was still viable in the cloudy mist. The second Prince was walking closely behind her at a steady pace, his footing was secure, seemingly having little trouble with the snowy terrain.

"Aren't you cold." Unlike her or Thor, Loki was not occasionally rubbing his hands against his arms to give some extra warmth. He was also not walking with a slight hunch to protect against the cold air. He walked with his head held high as he always did.

He slightly shock his head. "Not really."

She was about to ask how that was even possible, when they heard Thor calling their names. They turned to him. He had stopped seemingly looking at the mountain to his right. The hint of a grin was present on his face. When they moved to stand by his side they saw what it was that had caught his attention. The smallest trace of light seeped thorough the snow, in a slightly oval space. Reaching out Thor brushed the snow away. He revealed a boulder a little smaller than Eir in height. Quickly he moved to push it out of the way, Loki joined him.

The boulder was pushed away and the light, almost like a torch in the night burst out of the mountain side. Though it gave no real warmth, it did offer the illusion of warmth. Thor was the first to pass through the opening. Loki placed a hand on Eir's back and gently pushed her through, following after her. Eir once through the opening all most walked right into Thor's back. Loki in turn almost did the same to her. Looking in front of them at what could have caused Thor to stop in his tracks again, they too were left slightly open mouthed.

Laid out in-front of them was a long, about a quarter of a mile, narrow hall, with high ceilings. Which let them now that they had either climbed down further then they had first thought or there was something very strange about this place. The first few feet of the hall that they stood on had a rough floor at the end of this was a wall that was about four feet in hit of rocks with a small break in the middle. Beyond that was a paved floor that reached to the opposite end of the hall. There was a set of three steps on the top of which was a narrow platform. Though it was hard to see from their position, on top of the platform, something caught the light, which did not have a visible source caught their eye. The Hero's sword.

"We found it." Thor spoke under his breath, fearing disturbing the silence of the place they found themselves.

In an equally quite voice Loki too spoke, expressing his surprise. "I can't believe it…..Thor was right."

A grin worked its way slowly across Thor's face. He had been right, he had done it, they had done it. Now all that was left was to retrieve the sword and make their way down the rest of the mountain. He moved quickly toward the break in the wall. Loki had been studying the walls rather than the sword. It was very unlikely that an object such as the Hero's sword would be left out in the open like this. At least not unprotected. There had to be traps. It could not be as simple as just walking up and taking the sword. Finding no sign of any traps did not alleviate his fears. Seeing his Brother about to step out onto the paved floor did not help either.

"Thor no!"

It was too late. The second the words left his mouth, Thor had placed his right foot on the paved floor. A second later a large axe swinging on a pendulum that could not be seen, emerged from the left wall. A second after that Loki raised his right arm, and stopped the axe from continuing on its bloody journey to the right wall, making a stop at his Brother, most likely cutting him in two. The next few seconds were filled with silence till Eir broke it as she let out a deep breath.

"Okay, we have to be careful." Thor offered to try and lighten the mood.

Loki walked over to stand by him. "No what we need to do, if we really have to cross this hall, is make our way carefully and slowly across the floor." Thor look at Loki a look of confusion. "Which is why you are to stay here. I'll go."

"I cannot let you do that. It is too dangerous."

"It was too dangerous to come here in the first place. I have faster reflexes than you, I am faster in general. I am also lighter. Most importantly, I have magic. I can….."

"That is irrelevant. I am the oldest and the strongest….."

"Hitting dose not solve everything Bother."

Eir sighed as she moved towards them. "Let me."

Pushing them a little out of her way she made space for herself to stand between them. Not giving them the chance to stop her or say anything she held her arms out in-front of her and focused her magic. She had to know if she could still use magic. She channelled it into a gust of wind that rolled over the paved floor. Lowering her arms she watched with the Prince's as the magically created gust of wind triggered every trap. Another two axes swung across the hall. Large meatal spikes sprung up from the floor. The ground feel away at places. A large block of stone even feel from the ceiling at one point.

As all of this played out in-front of them and more, the three young Asgardians flinched every now and then. Very grateful that they were not on the receiving end of any of these sharp, large and very painful implements. Every time they thought it was over that, that was the last trap to be sprung, they were wrong, painfully wrong. Someone really did not want people to cross this hall. Once the last trap, two axes swinging from parallel walls was set off, they waited in silence. Their bodies tense waiting to see if anything else was going to go off. A minute dragged by in deadly silence. When nothing seemed to be about to happen, they let out a collective breath.

"You men make everything more complicated than it need be."

Eir spoke with a tone of arrogance in her voice. With a faint grin she took a step out onto the paved floor, only to be pulled back sharply by an arm that wrapped around her waist. As she flew backwards into Loki, she saw a number of small gunpowder pellets falling to the ground. Once off the paved floor, she was dragged down to the ground, as Loki covered her with his body. She could feel Thor at her other side. Most likely he was covering Loki, the way he was protecting her.

The sound from the exploding pellets echoed through the hall, leaving a ringing in all of their ears. Slowly they pulled apart, remaining kneeling on the floor, but turned to look at the damage in the rest of the hall. Amazingly there was none. The traps were clearly made of strong materials. They really should not have expected anything less. Who knows how long they would have to wait to be used.

Using each other for support they pulled themselves to their feet. Eir caught Loki's eyes. "Don't." She warned. He lifted his hands in surrender.

Carefully and very slowly they made their way across the hall. Their trip was made even slower as they had to jump and traverse all the traps that remained unmoving in the hall. Once they were about two thirds of the way across the hall the floor began to shack. It wasn't like all the other times they had felt the mountain shacking, this was a series of shacks that came in a steady pattern, like footsteps. Freezing to the spot and moving slightly closer together all they could do was wait to see what was going to appear to try and kill then now.

From the far end of the hall, on each side of the wall. Two large stone figures seemed to climb out of the walls. Like they were made from the same earth, but no gap in the wall was left behind. The figures almost reached the ceiling. They had to be about fifth teen feet high. They were large and moved at a steady pace that seemed to get fasted as the neared them. Eir jerked her hand out to her side, gripping hold of Loki's arm. Tearing his eyes off of the earth giants, Loki turned to look at Eir and Thor. Neither was moving. Eir was tense and clearly wanted to move, to do something that was not standing here like a sitting duck, but was waiting for someone to tell her what to do. Thor just looked blank. His eyes were locked on what was right in-front of him, but blank. He didn't tremble with nerves or tension as Loki and Eir were doing.

"Thor." Loki pressed.

Eir now looked form Loki to Thor too, then back to Loki. The fear in her eyes when she turned back to Loki was want truly made him worry. This was not like Thor. True they had never faced anything like this before, but he had never flattered throughout all that they had gone through to get here. Why now, why did it have to be now, Loki asked himself. He didn't have time to think of an answer. He had to do something. Shacking off Eir's grip on his arm, he took hold of her arm and reached across her back to take hold of Thor's arm. Slowly, fearing they might move fasted if they tried to run, he began to move backwards, leading them as they went.

Thor did resist, but he didn't help much either. They only made it a few steps, before Loki lost his balance, tripping slightly over a raised Paving stone. He didn't fall but stumbled. Which was all it took for the stone giants to greatly increase their speed. It seemed he was right about them not noticing them if they moved carefully. This was one of the times that he took no pleasure in being right. Once steady on his feet again he sharply pulled on both his Brother and Friends arms. This seemed to be enough, they understood, they started to run. Loki ran in-between them, marinating his tight hold on their arms.

The kept their eyes locked on the light form the opening that was their goal. What would happen once they were outside they didn't know. Would the earth giants stop chasing them. Did it really matter if they did, they were still going to be trapped on a mountain with no food or water. They had fallen with the boat. They didn't dare look behind them to see if the earth giants were getting closer, they didn't have to. They could feel them, hear their footsteps. They were now only a few feet from the opening. They could feel the cold air rushing in, hitting them on the face. It was a taste of freedom.

With a loud crash, louder than the earth giants footsteps, the traps being set off or the boat falling, the wall in-front of them started to cave and crumbling . Blocking the opening and their escape. They were forced to stop running, not wanting to be buried under the falling rock. The light that poured in cast a harsh light in to the hall. A light so bright that it blinded them. Unable to move or see clearly, they moved closer to each other waiting to see the new obstacle had crossed their path.

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**Thanks for reading. This is the longest chapter I have ever written. I just wanted to point out that, in one of the deleted scene form Thor, Loki mentioned that time in Niffleheim. This is my version of that. Where Thor was nervous, hope its ok. I hope that the action in this chapter worked. I kind of had an idea of stuff to do with the trapes, but I worried the chapter was getting to long, and I didn't really know how to right it. I hope this worked. **

**In the past I have asked a lot of question, to help, me better write the story and to know what works in the story and what doesn't, what I need to change. I have not really gotten any answers to these questions, but I have another one. This one is really important so I would be very grateful if you could please answer this question for me. I have written the story form only the point of view of Eir. Only things she sees I write. I did not intend for it to be that way, it is just that I didn't feel comfortable writing from the perspective of the other characters, as I didn't have a clear idea about them. As she is an oc, I made up it is easier to write from Eir's perspective. What I would like to know is if that is annoying, would it be better if I broaden the story. Wrote things for Loki and other characters perspectives. I am not promising that I can do a lot with that, but I will give it my best try and I may get better at it as I go one. It is up to you if you would like that. Again I would very much appreciate an answer, your input on this and anything else you may wish to say. Thank you. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for reading. I hope that you are enjoying the story. I feel like I am starting to have more of a plan for this part of the story, so there should me more of a flow to the story. That being said I still welcome any input into the story. **

**Legendary Lore. Thank you very much for that. I am very pleased that even with not overly like oc story (I don't read any really myself.) that you have still given my story a change. I am also glad that the other characters seem to be in character. **

**fastreader12. Thank you very much. I up-date every two weeks. This is due to me also writing another story. Not to be pandering, but the numbers of reviews play a part, not I don't let it affect it overly, but at the very least there will always be a new chapter every second Sunday. I hope that you will continue to read the story.**

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When their eyes began to adjust to the bright light, they began to make out what had crashed through the side of the mountain. What they would most likely have to try and get away from next. They each took in a deep breath and waited to see what was before them. When they could see, they did not know if they should be relived or more scared.

Sticking out of the side of the mountain was the bow of a larger boat that the kind they had stolen and lost. They were saved, or at the very least saved for now. Quickly walking to the end of the bow and jumping down in-front of them was Odin and Eir's Father. Yes they were saved, from the earth giants at least. Their Father's on the other hand were a different thing entirely. They would save then that was not in doubt, the fact that they would save them to bring them back to Asgard to punish them was also not in doubt. Maybe they would be better off with the earth giant.

The two powerful warriors passed their children, drawing their weapons. Loki who still had a hold on his Brother's and Eir's arms turned round, takin them with him to see their Father's fight. As they watched their Father's destroy the earth giants in a few seconds, they truly began to think they may have been better off before. When the two warriors finished their work and turned to face their children the same look of anger they had worn when they charged into battle, still remained on their faces.

"I can explain." Thor spoke first as he pulled his arm free from Loki's hold and stepped forward.

Though he would never admit it, Loki was a little impresses and proud of his Brother. He could understand him freezing when they were faced with the earth giants. They were a totally unknown force. If he didn't feel like he had to prove himself, just a little to his older Brother then he most likely would have frozen too. Their Father was a different matter. They had both on numerous occasions been on the receiving end of his temper. Deep down they knew that this anger when directed at them, came worry, which came from a place of love. That did not making it any less intimidating, thereby making Thor's actions very brave to Loki.

"Then I suggest that you do so." Odin's deep voice filled the large hall with not even seeming like he was trying.

Thor did his best to sound as confident as he could, but the slight shaking in his hand let Loki know his Brother was human after all, at least as human as they could be. "We were searching for the Hero's sword."

"And how did you know where to look." Odin had his eyes locked on his oldest Son.

Thor faltered under this stare for a moment then went on. "I overheard you….."

"You were eavesdropping."

All the first all the Prince could do was nod. "I wanted too….."

"You wanted to prove yourself to me a man, a warrior. You did so by endangering not just your life, but also you're younger Brother's, who you should be protecting. Not to mention the lady Eir."

"I…"

"There is no excuse." Thor took a small step back as Odin moved towards them.

"I know."

He looked down at the ground as he spoke. When he felt a hand being placed on his left shoulder he quickly looking up he saw his Father standing in-front of him with one hand on his shoulder and the other on Loki's. The anger had all but left his eyes, all that was left now as worry and the hint of disappointment. Which was worse than the anger.

"Clearly you did not, but you will learn." He turned to look at his younger Son. "And what does my perceptive Son, that most likely was dragged here against his will, notice about this hall."

Loki was silent for a second, not wanting to answer too quickly. "It is too large to fit into the mountain at this height."

Odin laughed a little under his breath and lightly slapped Loki's shoulder. "Correct. You are most defiantly your Mother's child." The King used his hold on his Son's shoulders to turn them around and push them towards the bow of the boat that had emerged through the mountain wall. "This is not the hiding place of Gram, known to you as the Hero's sword."

Loki glanced over at his Brother to see his reaction to this news. To his surprise he took the news well. He could just catch him taking in a deep breath to calm his anger. Under normal circumstances he would do something to push Thor to unleash that held back anger. Under normal circumstances he would feel a smug satisfaction at getting a rise old of his older Brother, he should know better. These however where not normal circumstances. He had also just been, in a round-about and subtle way been praised by his Father for his intelligence. He did not want to ruin that.

Eir had kept one eyes on her Father and the other on the King and his conversation with his Sons. Now that they were moving towards the Bow of the Boat, she turned both eyes to her Father. She was about to speak, to talk to him, but he moved quickly and placed both of his hands on her shoulders and moved her forward. In-front of her the male members of the Asgardian royal family climbed the fallen rocks and jumped onto the desk of the Boat. Once she reached the pile of fallen rock, her Father moved his hands from on top of her shoulders to under her arms, picking her up. He took two large steps before he placed her down on the boat deck. Feeling very embarrassed, she lowered her head and walked towards the Princes who silently sat on the edge of the boat on the starboard side.

The journey back to the city of Asgard was done in silence. From the way their Fathers moved around the boast, doing what had to be done as well as the look in their eyes when they happened to catch their eyes, let them now that this was not the end of it, not be a long way. They were simply saving it for when they returned. In the long run that was safer for themselves. There would be witness. Maybe this silence was to protect their children as well as make them suffer.

In less than an hour they pulled the boat into the dock and tied it up. The King and one of his most trusted warriors exchanged words and parted ways, takin their children with them. The walk back to her house seemed longer than it ever had before. Part of her was grateful about this, it most likely prolonged her life a little longer, but in the worst way. The anticipation of what was to come was infinitely worse than whatever it would be.

Her Father opened the front-door and stepped inside. Eir followed a few paces behind. Once inside he took a few steps into the main hall before stopping. Eir stood in the open doorway for a few seconds, waiting for him to speak. When he did not she realised he was waiting for her to close the door. Of course, no direct witness.

"Do you know how precious you are to me." He spoke the second the door was closed.

As she turned back to face him, he too turned to face her. "Of course." She replied in a low whisper. Her head looking intently at her feet.

Before she realised that he had moved, he was standing in-front of her. With a sigh he reached out placing his hand under her chin, lifting her head upward he forced her to look him in the eye.

"Then why do you insist on putting that which is most precious to me in all the nine realms in Danger."

Her first reaction to his was to smile, then the tone that he spoke it with hit her and the smile started to fall. He sounded so sad, so defeated. She had never heard him sound like that before. Anger due to worry yes, but never defeated before. If she really thought about it she was not sure that she had ever actually heard this emotion in such a strong way before. Defeatism was not a trait often seen or admitted to in Asgard. Seeing her Father's such a strong, brave and solid man expressing it so openly was shocking. He was her rock, she depended on him to be a source of stability in her life, seeing him braking even a little, knowing it was her fault, broke her heart.

"I'm sorry." She offered, it was all she could say.

He sighed again. Bending down he pulled her into a hug. "That is very nice, but it is not a reason is it." He pulled away, keeping his hands on his shoulders.

"I thought it would be fun."

"That does not sound like my Daughter."

Again she could not help but smile a little. "Thor wanted to find the sword, he wanted to spend time with his friends. Sif is training, he was looking for Loki, I was with him in the library. He had to ask me. I was curious." The last sentence she said with a shrug and an attempted laugh.

Amazingly her Father was able to follow her train of thought. Knowing the Princes well he could just imagine things happening the way she described them. Though he believed there was something that she was not telling him. Most likely he assumed it was to do with the second Prince. He did not know Loki as well as Thor, due mainly to Thor training with the soldiers more than his Brother. Not that Loki did not train and have skill as a warrior, he just choose to train on his own. This was due to his choice in weapon. Eir seemed to know him better than his older Brother. At first he had thought nothing of this, now it worried him. Loki was most defiantly smart and had a curious nature for learning. These where traits that he knew his Daughter also held. They were also traits that her Mother had. Traits that he was sure she got form her mixed heritage. He did not hate it, but he did not wish to encourage these traits either. It was too painful.

"I think you should not spend as much of your time with the Prince Loki."

"What." She almost yelled.

"Not forever, I think you should distance yourself…"

"From Magic."

"You should be spending your time training…."

"I am, it is just not the kind of training that you would understand."

Her Father pulled himself to his fall height Again. "Eir….."

"It's because it reminds you of her…."

"Eir….."

She felt guilt start to creep over her, but she could not back down now. "It is. I can use magic because of her. You don't want to remember because it hurts, but I can't help being who I am. I will not change….."

Before she could say anymore she was pulled into a tight embrace. After the shock wore off, she lifted her arms to return the hug. She felt her Father letting out a deep breath. "Eir…."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…I shouldn't have said."

Slowly he pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "I loved your Mother very much. I miss her every day, but I get to see her in you. She would be proud of you, of your curiosity and intelligence. I am proud of you, but I worry for you. I want you to feel at home here."

She took in a deep breath, as something that she should have seen before suddenly became clear. He worried that she may once she was old enough choose to leave Asgard to live in either of the realms of her Mother's heritage. He didn't want to lose her. She was all that he had. Her Grandfather was long dead, her Grandmother did not speak to her youngest son. Not after he married Eir's Mother. Her uncle. Sif's Father still spoke to his younger Brother, but they were not close. It was clear from what she had learned that they had been once. She was the only family that he had, that he carried about. That meant that he was also the only real family that she had too.

"I would never leave you." She fought back tears. "You are my Father, my Family.

He smiled a little and stroked the side of her face. "Maybe I have been more extreme than I should have been. I only wanted you to feel that you belong here."

Again he did not have to say more she understood. Being different he didn't want her to feel that meant she did not belong in Asgard. Though they felt raw and sad by what they had said and realised, they knew they were glad that they had had this conversation. She knew in the back of her mind that this was her chance to make him change his mind about her becoming a Valkyrie. There would never be another chance like this one. Yet she could not take it.

There was nothing to say that she had to remain a Valkyrie for the rest of her long life. What harm would it do to go along with his plan at least for now. She might even enjoy it. The idea of gaining more knowledge about how to cause harm to others when needed did appel to her a little. The fact that she could also do better than Sif also appeled. They had never been close, but she did respect that her Cousin was trying to make her own way in the world and not follow the path set out for her. That did not change the fact that she could also be very arrogant and the possibility of beating her at something that she cared about was a pleasant thought.

"I do feel like I belong here. I belong with you."

He truly smiled as he stood up again. "That gives me great pleasure to hear little one, but it does not change what you have done today."

She signed and nodded her head. At least he was not angry enough to kill her anymore. "I know."

"That is what I don't understand. You know better, you all do." Before she could try and explain, he went on. "I still feel that you should distance yourself form…." He paused trying to think of the best way to describe what he wanted to say. "From more academic pursuits, and focus on more….."

"Worthwhile pursuits."

"Pursuits that offer a greater sense of accomplishment."

She smiled and nodded her head. She had to agree, learning something new, depending on what it was, did not always offer much feeling of accomplishment. Though she would not want to admit it, she knew that this was due to not being able to express, show off how much you knew. Maybe that was another benefit to her going along with her Father's plan for now.

"You are not to have any lessens in magic or go to the palace till the next moon cycle." She nodded. There was no point arguing. It would only make things worse. "Now go to you room. I will heat some stew for you. You will eat it then go to sleep, no reading tonight." Again she nodded and did as she was told.

The sun had only set an hour or so before she was lying in bed, trying to sleep. Though it was dark it was still light enough that she could read, if she moved to the bottom of her bed, were a pool of moonlight poured into her room. The book on her bedside table was very interesting and she really wanted to read some more of it. She was very sure that her Father would no hear her moving to get it, but she just couldn't bring herself to move. Maybe after the day she had had, an early night was what she needed. Closing her eyes she began to count in her head, hoping that the mindless activity would held her sleep.

She reached 381, when she heard a tapping at her window. She ignored it for a few seconds, then it grew louder. It was a slightly familiar sound, one that was almost always followed by some strange series of events. The sound grew in speed as she tried to ignore it. There was no doing that she knew it was going to continue until she got up and opened her window. In the back of her mind she had wanted to get up the second she heard the sound, but she was tired and in a foul mood. With an exaggerated sigh she pulled the sheets back and got up. Climbing onto the chair at her desk that stood under her window, she stepped onto the desk and opened the window.

Fenrir seeing her lowered himself onto the ground so she could open the window fully. Of course the Hel-wolf was not alone, out of the darkness Loki appeared from the right side of her window. "I thought you would be more welcoming to a Hel-wolf."

"Well compared to you." She laughed as she sat down on the windowsill, her feet on her desk and her back to the Prince.

He placed his back against the wall under her window, putting his hands on the windowsill he pulled himself up, so he was sitting next to her, but facing the other direction. "Since he is so cute, I will take that as a complement."

She laugh a little under her breath, in case her Father heard her. Looking back at Fenrir, who was chewing on a stone. Another animal she would be worried about them breaking their teeth, but not Fenrir. She could not quieten her laugher at this sight. "You must have very little self-esteem." He simply shrugged. She scoffed, then they fell into a comfortable silence for a few seconds. "What would you do if my room was on the first floor."

"Your doubt offends me."

She was not sure if it was that they were partly sitting in a pool of moonlight or if she was really seeing it, but she was sure that she saw a faint glow to Loki's skin. While he was more advanced with magic than she was, she knew that when he made a copy of himself there was always a faint glow to it. In the light of day it was very hard to see it, but she could almost always see it. It made sense he would have to use a copy to sneak out to see her, most likely he and his Brother had been given a punishment like her own.

"What happened."

He chewed on his lip, as he though over his answer. "What you would expect. A lot of being talked at…..I am not to have any further training in magic for two moon cycles. Yourself."

"Than same, though I only got one cycle."

"Well that is because you were corrupted by a bad influence." He had a light tone, but she did not fail to notice the slight pained look in his eyes.

She knew that he was well aware of some of the more negative things that were said about him behind his back. It was nothing to harsh, and in fact most of it was true, to which she could attest. For the most part it did not bother him, he did not care what others said or thought. He knew that it was no simple tricks that he could master, that it was a skill, a gift. Recently though as he and Thor neared there coming of age, when they would be seen as men in the eyes of Asgard, he had changed a little. He seemed to try more to fit the role expected of him. He had always tried, and done very well in weapons training, but now there was a more aggressive nature to the way he would spare in practices.

He had always been a long-range fighter, using his magic now more often than not. He would use very close-rang fighting techniques too. The reason for this was clear to her, Asgardians by in large choose to fight in a mid-range style. This gave them the ability to draw and swing their weapons freely with all the power they had, and be close enough to cause damage. Loki to counter this, went to the two extremes. Even the way he held his favourite weapon, the dagger had changed, favouring an ice-pick hold. A hold which looked like one used by people that did not fully know what they were doing, but was very hard to counter. She hoped he was not going to change himself to conform too much. He didn't see it she thought, mainly because Thor did not see it, but whichever of them would be King, because she still believed that there was a chance it could be either, they were going to need the other to balance them out.

"Loki….."

"How is your arm."

She frowned at his changing of the subject. "It's fine….I still don't understand it."

"You have never had to heal yourself…."

"No it was more than that. It felt like a block, I have never felt anything like that before. Even if my magic was not powerful enough to do what I wished it too, I could always still feel my magic connecting….but not this time."

Loki silently listen to her, nodding along showing that he was listening to her, even though he was watching Fenrir. Who had given up chewing on the stone and was now trying to find a path through a bush that bordered the small garden of Eir's house. She highly doubted that he knew what it felt like to have a magical block. To focus your magic into something have it feel like it was then being wasted, floating way in the wind.

"Well I'm sure you still have skill in healing magic." He scoffed. "In fact I am relying on it."

As he spoke he moved his right hand, the side closest to her, to pull back the long coat that he wore. Revealing an angry looking burn on his right side. From what she could see through the burnt clothing, it was not a deep burn, but it seemed red and inflamed. Due to it most likely not being dealt with till now. It was also she guessed an excuse for him to come and see her. It was this that led her to a realisation.

"It's really you."

His face frowned as his head moved back a little. "OF course it's me."

"I thought it was a copy."

"No, it's the real me. And I am in some real pain."

Suddenly she spurn into action, placing her hands over the wound. Unlike the last time that she had tried to use healing magic, this time it flowed freely. Healing the wound in a matter of seconds. Once it was done she let out a sigh of relief. Then she gave him a quick punch to the arm.

"Why did you not tell me sooner. How did you do it."

He smiled at her concern, masked as anger. "I think when the series of small explosions went off, and I gallantly shielded you."

"You mean after I had to find a way across the trap laden hall, because you were having a pissing match with you older Brother."

"Yes, that would be it. All of which happened after I saved him from being cut in two…..oh and healed your dislocated shoulder."

She silently mocked him, shaking her head and mouthing along with him. Then they both laughed quietly under their breath. Eir sighed knowing that she had to bring up a subject that he clearly did not want to talk about, but she had to know.

"So, what happened to Thor, what is his punishment."

"I don't know." She looked at him with a clearly confused look. "The All-Father spoke to both of us. I was given my punishment, then told to go to my chambers. I listened out for Thor going back to his, but I never heard him. After a few hours, I got bored…"

"So you snuck out."

"Essentially yes….they were still talking…..I didn't hear it all. I am sure that the All-Father was giving my Brother one of the ruins that led the way to the real Hero's sword."

She scoffed under her breath trying to find the words. She would not find the words. "So….he was rewarded. You and I are punished and he, who dragged us….he gets rewarded….."

"Essentially Yes."

"Do you have nothing else to say."

"There is nothing to say. It is the way it is."

There was nothing she could say, it is the way it was. Nothing was going to change that. That did not make it any less unfair. "So….."

"So, I guess I shall see you in two months." He pushed himself of the windowsill. Landing on the ground, he took her hand in his. "Till then my lady." He spoke in a mock tone, that made her pull her hand away.

"Maybe you should make it three months." She teased.

He smiled. "You would miss me too much."

He didn't give her the chance to reply, he and his Hel-wolf were gone before she could put together any coherent series of words. He was annoyingly right, very annoyingly right she would miss him. It wasn't till this moment, when she realised just how much. Her Father's desire to create a distance between them and this imposed parting, made it very clear. It was shocking to the young half Asgardian just how much this simple fact was clear. She had never thought that she would find herself feeling this strongly about someone that was not her Father. It frightened her how much she had come to rely on the second Princes of Asgard. If it was not for her, she did not know who she would be, how she would fit into life here. The thought now of becoming a Valkyrie, leaving here, that just a few hours ago had not seemed very daunting, now seemed like losing an arm. She hated that she felt like this, pushing it aside and schooling herself to slip back into the cold, detached way of thinking, she climbed down from her desk and back into her bed. Looking up at the ceiling, knowing she would get no sleep this night.

* * *

**Again thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. I'm sorry if the way I ended the fight was a little bit of a copout, I just didn't know how to write it and I wanted to move on to the rest of the chapter. I am still not overly sure of this story, I don't really know what I think of it. Parts I think are okay and others I really don't know about. **

**I just found out that Loki is going to be in not just the next Thor movie, but also both of the next Avengers movies. Which I am happy about, also it kind of fits in with the way I have this story planned. So that is kind of cool. **

**I would be very grateful for some input. The story is fairly new so things can be changed now. So again I would ask for some feedback, what works and what doesn't what would you like to read in the story. **


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